The South Carolina Gamecocks, the “upset team” in this tournament, were on a winning streak, beating Marquette, Baylor, Duke, Florida. The Gamecocks met their demise in the Final Four to Gonzaga. This, in college basketball, is considered a Cinderella story.

South Carolina was seeded at number seven (which is a little bit above average), though they were expected to lose in round 32. Almost no one thought they were going to make it this far. Less than one thousand brackets, out of millions this year on Tournament Challenge App, picked the correct final four.

Even though The Gamecocks lost to the Bulldogs, many still think the slipper fits for this Cinderella story in the upcoming season. The reason why this is such a big deal is that South Carolina came into the tournament, despite not being on a winning streak, was they also didn’t have anyone injured, thus no one to come back and play the triumphant “hero.”

So what made them so much better in tournament time? Whether you like it or not, South Carolina, the Cinderella story, made it to the final four. This year, only three other teams can say that.

To start understanding what may have happened to the Gamecocks, first look at their season schedule. They went on a eight win streak at start of the season, with notable wins on this stretch, beating both Michigan and Syracuse, who, at the time of that game, was ranked at 18th in the nation.

Their first loss was given to them at the hands of Seton Hall, who ended up being a ten seed in this year’s tournament. They also went on a five game, in-conference winning streak that consisted of a notable win against Florida who at the time was ranked 19th. They met South Carolina in the elite 8.

The Gamecocks lost to the Kentucky Wildcats 85-69, the Wildcats would end up being a two-seed in the tournament and their chances at the title would end in the elite eight. Later on in the season, they started to cool down, ultimately leading them to lose six out of their last nine games in the regular season. A notable loss was to then ranked 13th in the country. Florida Gators who they had faced previously and won against this game to me seemed like the key to maybe having some closure on what gave them the ability to make it to the Final Four.