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.
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The flag was removed in July 2015 after nine people were killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston a month earlier.
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