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South Carolina Basketball: Men and Women make NCAA Final Four

By Matt Green

Mar 27, 2017; Stockton, CA, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Allisha Gray (10) and guard Tyasha Harris (52) and guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore (1) react near the end of the game against the Florida State Seminoles during the fourth period in the finals of the Stockton Regional of the women's 2017 NCAA Tournament at Stockton Arena. South Carolina won 71-64. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2017; Stockton, CA, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Allisha Gray (10) and guard Tyasha Harris (52) and guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore (1) react near the end of the game against the Florida State Seminoles during the fourth period in the finals of the Stockton Regional of the women's 2017 NCAA Tournament at Stockton Arena. South Carolina won 71-64. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /
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The South Carolina Gamecocks men and women’s basketball teams have made the NCAA Final Four in the same season.

Must Read: NCAA Tournament's best story keeps getting better

Today is a great day for South Carolina basketball, a school who rarely has success in the sports that people actually care about.

But this year, the Gamecocks are in the spotlight, and for good reason.

Like we’ve mentioned before, South Carolina’s men’s team has been the best story of this year’s NCAA Tournament. They’re the third 7-seed to make the Final Four in the last four years, but only Connecticut in 2014 won it all.

They will play 1-seed Gonzaga on Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

There’s nothing extraordinary about South Carolina’s women. They were expected to be here. They came into the tournament as a 1-seed, and after beating Florida State on Monday, the Gamecocks women are now 31-4, and they’ve won nine straight games.

That winning streak includes winning the SEC tournament, and in the conference finals they beat another Final Four team in Mississippi State 59-49.

This is their second Final Four appearance in the last three years.

They will play 2-seed Stanford (32-5) on Friday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

But despite how extraordinary it sounds, this feat isn’t as uncommon as you may think.

South Carolina is the sixth school in the last nine years to accomplish this. And since in the NCAA women’s tournament started in 1982, it has been done 13 times. It happened five years in a row from 2002 to 2006. And believe it or not, it’s not just UConn every time.

The Gamecocks are also the third SEC school to accomplish this, along with Georgia in 1983 and LSU in 2006.

Mar 26, 2017; New York, NY, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard TeMarcus Blanton (5) reacts during the second half against the Florida Gators in the finals of the East Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2017; New York, NY, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard TeMarcus Blanton (5) reacts during the second half against the Florida Gators in the finals of the East Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

Men and Women reaching Final Four in same season

1983: Georgia

1999: Duke*

2002: Oklahoma

2003: Texas

2004: UConn*

2005: Michigan State

2006: LSU

2009: UConn

2011: UConn

2013: Louisville*

2014: UConn*

2016: Syracuse

2017: South Carolina

Only four times have both the men and women advanced to the national championship game with Duke in 1999, UConn in 2004, Louisville in 2013, and UConn again in 2014.

But only UConn in 2004 and 2014 has won both the men’s and women’s national championship in the same season.

Each Gamecocks team will have their work cut out for them if they want to make history, but given the dynasty that is UConn women’s basketball, it’s going to be much tougher for the women.

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