COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner says the university is considering a bid for the NCAA Tournament men’s basketball first- and second-round games the NCAA has removed from North Carolina over a state law limiting protections for LGBT people.
Tanner said South Carolina has until Sept. 27 to submit its bid. If successful, the men’s tournament would supersede holding a potential women’s NCAA Tournament at the Colonial Life Arena.
The Gamecocks have hosted NCAA women’s tournament games the past two seasons.
The state of South Carolina has not hosted a men’s NCAA Tournament regional since 2002 because of the NCAA ban over flying the Confederate flag on Statehouse grounds.
The flag was removed in July 2015 after nine people were killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston a month earlier.
