South Carolina faces the SEC’s toughest four basketball teams in its first five conference games next season.

The Gamecocks start at Kentucky, a Final Four team last season, and then head home to face Vanderbilt and Florida, a 2011 Elite Eight team. After a week break, USC heads to Auburn and meets West Division champion Alabama in Columbia.

The SEC did away with divisions this year in seeding the conference tournament, set for New Orleans. But teams’ regular-season schedules did not change — South Carolina plays East Division foes twice and West Division opponents once.

USC finished with a SEC third-worst 5-11 last season. Three of the victories came against West Division teams. The Gamecocks won early-season games versus Vanderbilt and at Florida.

The SEC schedule was released a week after South Carolina’s nonconference slate, which features matchups with Final Four favorites North Carolina and Ohio State.

USC's nonconference schedule

Television information and game times for nonconference games will be released at a later date.

Nov. 3 - Kentucky Wesleyan (Exhibition)

Nov. 11 - Western Carolina

Nov. 15 - at Elon

Nov. 20 - Tennessee State

Nov. 22 - Mississippi Valley State

Nov. 25 - North Carolina (in Las Vegas)

Nov. 26 - Southern California or UNLV (in Las Vegas)

Dec. 1 - Providence

Dec. 4 - at Clemson

Dec. 13 - Presbyterian

Dec. 17 - Ohio State

Dec. 21 - SE Louisiana

Dec. 28 - Wofford

Dec. 31 - USC Upstate

Jan. 3 - S.C. State

USC's conference schedule

Jan. 7 - at Kentucky, 4 p.m., SEC Network

Jan. 10 - Vanderbilt, 9 p.m., ESPNU

Jan. 14 - Florida, 7 p.m., CSS

Jan. 21 - at Auburn, 1:30 p.m., SEC Network

Jan. 25 - Alabama, 8 p.m., SEC Network

Jan. 28 - at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., FSN

Feb. 2 - at Florida, 9 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2

Feb. 4 - Kentucky, 6 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2

Feb. 8 - at Tennessee, 8 p.m., SEC Network

Feb. 11 - at Arkansas, 1:30 p.m., SEC Network

Feb. 15 - Georgia, 7 p.m., CSS

Feb. 18 - LSU, 1:30 p.m., SEC Network

Feb. 22 - at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m., SEC Network

Feb. 25 - Tennessee, 8 p.m., FSN

Feb. 29 - Mississippi State, 8 p.m., SEC Network

March 3 - at Georgia, 1:30 p.m., SEC Network