Josh Gray admitted he spent a few weeks wondering about whether his surging South Carolina team might pop in the next edition of The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. The 15th-ranked Gamecocks are there now, playing with confidence and a number by their name for the first time in nearly seven years. It comes with the Gamecocks (19-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) just a game out of first place in the league standings to start the week and owning the program's first ranking since February 2017.