March Madness Sweet 16 2017: Likability rankings

Mar 19, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (12) celebrates with forward D.J. Wilson (5) after defeating the Louisville Cardinals in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Joseph-USA TODAY Sports /

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GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 19: Duane Notice /

3. South Carolina Gamecocks

Everyone loves an NCAA hero. For weeks, the South Carolina Gamecocks have looked like a bubble team that was going to struggle as soon as they got into the tournament. Instead, they pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the tournament thus far and defeated Duke.

When a team that’s as loved and hated as Duke is goes down, it makes the team that beat them a favorite to many. It’s just the nature of fandom in sports and that means that there are a lot of people on the South Carolina bandwagon after their win.

The Gamecocks have a great chance against Baylor and a shot to advance to the Elite Eight. There are probably very few people that had South Carolina going as far as they did but it speaks to the testament of the team coming together at the right time.

We’ve seen time and time again teams that don’t look tournament ready suddenly turn it on when they make it to March Madness. South Carolina is that team this year and it will be interesting to see how far their journey goes. They certainly are a likable team.

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