This week, Columbia, S.C., is a basketball town.

It’s perhaps the biggest week for the sport in the history of the combined South Carolina men’s and women’s programs- which boast a combined record of 42-3- as three blockbuster home games at the Colonial Life Arena highlight the docket.

Things get started tonight with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle on the women’s side as the unbeaten Gamecocks (22-0) host Connecticut in a nationally-televised showdown before a sellout crowd at the CLA. This game is so big that the SEC Network- and the Paul Finebaum Show- is originating live from South Carolina’s capital city today. The opponent doesn’t get any bigger than the Huskies, who have won the last three national championships.

These two teams met last season with UCONN taking an 87-62 win in Storrs, Conn. Tonight’s game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.

On Wednesday, the Gamecocks men’s team (20-3, 7-3 SEC) plays host to first-place LSU (15-8, 8-2). South Carolina is coming off a critical 81-78 road win at Texas A&M on Saturday and is in a three-way tie with the Aggies and Kentucky for second place in the league. A win against the Tigers could vault the Gamecocks into first place in the league and places South Carolina in position to seriously contend for its first SEC Championship since 1997 down the stretch.

LSU has one of the best individual players in college basketball in freshman sensation Ben Simmons, who is averaging 19.4 points and 12.3 rebounds this season. The Tigers have been playing excellent basketball of late. Since falling at A&M, 71-57, on Jan. 19, LSU has won four of five, including conference road wins at Alabama and Auburn. The lone defeat? A tight 77-75 decision to top-ranked Oklahoma in Baton Rouge.

This contest tips off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

The women’s team then has a conference home game against Florida on Thursday. The Gators currently are in third place in the league, a half game behind Mississippi State for second. This game tips at 7 p.m. and will be televised by SEC Network Plus.

To top it off, Kentucky comes to town for a men’s game on Saturday. The Wildcats need no introduction as John Calipari again has a stellar squad that will be in contention for the SEC Championship and in position to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. This game also is sold out and for a men’s basketball program in the SEC with championship aspirations, it doesn’t get any bigger than when the Wildcats come to town. This game tips at noon and will be televised nationally by ESPN.

This week not only is big in terms of the course of both team’s respective seasons, it’s big in terms of national publicity and a chance for South Carolina basketball to showcase itself the entire week. Also, for the Colonial Life Arena to show the entire country what type of home court it can truly be. The CLA gets a bad rep because there has been a lot of bad basketball there since it opened 13 years ago, but the 18,000-seat arena can be loud and difficult to play in when the games are big and the teams are winning and that certainly is the case this season.

What is underrated about Gamecocks basketball is that fans actually do care and will support a winner. The women led the country in attendance last season, one in which they went to the Final Four, and when the men have a season like this, the place is usually loud and packed. Maybe it’s the Atlantic Coast Conference roots, maybe it’s that the city of Columbia loves basketball and as a city has a rich basketball tradition, maybe it’s just that Gamecocks fans will support a winner, regardless of what sport it is, but this week the myth of South Carolina institutionally not doing what it takes to support a big time basketball program will be busted once and for all.

Yes, this week, Columbia the basketball town, takes center stage.