South Carolina won 24 games before Selection Sunday last season but was still left out of the NCAA Tournament - partly because the Gamecocks accomplished little in the non-league portion of their schedule. They went 13-0 vs. non-league opponents but played, and thus beat, zero top-40 KenPom teams.

Predictably, the selection committee punished them for it.

South Carolina played in the NIT.

But such shouldn't be the case again this season, as long as Frank Martin's Gamecocks do well in the SEC, and that's because South Carolina already has two top-30 KenPom wins - specifically last Wednesday's 61-46 victory over Michigan that was followed by Saturday's 64-50 victory over Syracuse. In other words, the Gamecocks are 6-0 with multiple quality wins, which is enough to get them ranked 22nd in the updated CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). As a result, there are now three SEC schools - Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina - in the Top 25 (and one).

South Carolina's launch into the rankings caused Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Michigan State to all drop one spot, no fault of their own. And it pushed Wichita State out of the rankings to what would amount to the 27th spot, if there were such a thing.

The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.