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SEC Star Takes Shot At AP Voters After Latest Release Of Top 25

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South Carolina G Meechie Johnson celebrates a win over Kentucky.

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South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson took a shot at college basketball voters after the latest release of AP Poll rankings. The Gamecocks remained unranked despite a 17-3 start to the season.

Coach Lamont Paris’s bunch has been the surprise of the SEC this season, originally picked to finish dead last in the conference. Johnson believes voters still aren’t giving his team the recognition it deserves, and he let them hear it on Monday.

South Carolina’s resume is strong enough to boast a Top 25 title.

The Gamecocks have lost just three games, two of which came on the road against teams currently pegged to participate in the NCAA Tournament (Alabama, Clemson).

On its list of wins thus far sit No. 10 Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Grand Canyon, and Mississippi State, all ranked in the NET Top 50.

The squad owns a 6-2 record against Quad 1 and 2 opponents, and it has no “bad losses” to date, but strength of schedule does leave something to be desired.

The out-of-conference slate was weak, ranking 278th nationally. The Gamecocks missed out on its biggest chance at a headlining win with a five-point loss to the rival Tigers. South Carolina controlled that game throughout before blowing a double-digit second half lead.

Still, a case can be made for inclusion in the college basketball rankings, especially after last week’s win over the Wildcats.

Unfortunately for the folks in Columbia, voters haven’t seen enough.

The latest AP Poll shows the Gamecocks at No. 26 in the “receiving votes” category. Meechie Johnson wasn’t pleased about what he considered a snub.

He referred to the latest rankings release as “straight comedy” on his X feed, taking a shot at college basketball voters.

Johnson has been the team’s best player, ranking 10th in the SEC at 15.7 points per game.

His head coach has also expressed some criticism of the exclusion, commenting on the team’s place in the polls after a win on Saturday.

“There were times that I thought it would’ve been nice for our guys, for our confidence, if they would’ve gotten some recognition,” Lamont Paris said after beating Missouri.

“If they like us, they like us. If not, they’ll pay the price.”

The Gamecocks have a chance to make a statement this week as it travels to fifth-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday. They’ll then look to avenge a loss to Georgia on Saturday.

While still unranked, South Carolina sits firmly in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. Listed as a nine-seed, the college basketball analyst has them facing off against eight-seed Seton Hall.

Johnson and Co. have used their Top 25 status as motivation thus far. We’ll see if it helps them moving forward.