Maybe, but IMHO SC is not nearly as good as their record or their ranking. Who exactly have they played? Not really a single top 10 team. Kentucky is showing they are no where near the top 10. UNC back in early December? Ok. The SEC is very solid this year, but I don't think a single team is final 4 material.
Clearly there are a lot of games left, but they have played a real cupcake schedule. They beat Winthrop by 8, squeaked past Arkansas by 4, beat a lousy Auburn team by 6, Vandy by 4 and Mississippi State by 7, and aTm in OT. Most of those teams just aren't any good, and SC "squeaked" past them.
You can argue they haven't beat top opponents, but NO ONE has proven to be Final Four material outside of UCONN and ND. Look at the rest of the top 10:
Stanford:
Win a close one at home vs. Tennessee.
Lose to 15-10 Washington less than 2 weeks ago. Throttled by UCONN on the road.
Louisville:
0 wins against top 15 teams
Overtime wins against Oklahoma and Florida State
Lost to Kentucky and blown out by UCONN.
Baylor:
2 wins against struggling #12 Oklahoma State (who was just blown out by 32 to West Virginia)
Lost by 16 at Kansas and to Kentucky in Texas
Duke:
Home wins vs. #14 NC State, blew out #8 Maryland, no other wins against current top 15 teams unless you count their win vs. Kentucky
Blown out at home by UCONN, Notre Dame, and lost by 11 at home against UNC
Maryland:
Only win vs. team in current top 15 is @ UNC.
Losses to Duke, Notre Dame, Connecticut, NC State and a bad 14 point loss to 13-13 Virginia.
Penn State:
No wins vs. top 15
Lost to San Diego State, @ home vs. unranked Iowa, @ home to #21 Purdue
Tennessee:
Beat North Carolina by 16 early in the season, no other wins vs. top 15 teams.
Lost to Kentucky at home, @ Vanderbilt, vs. #19 LSU
Now look at South Carolina:
Only top 15 win was a blow out at Kentucky (won by 23 points), and beat Kentucky at home by 9
Only losses are a road game @ Texas A&M in OT, and vs. UNC on a neutral court in a tight game back in December.
South Carolina also recently crushed LSU on the road. South Carolina has 0 bad losses (unlike Stanford, Baylor, Maryland, Penn State and Tennessee), a better resume of wins than Louisville, and no blowout losses unlike Duke. It's also worth mentioning, in those closer games you mentioned, South Carolina never trailed in the 2nd half (excluding 19 seconds in the first minute against Auburn.)
South Carolina is extremely young and athletic. At this point, I think they've proven to be the 3rd most impressive team in the nation. At this point, I think they have to be considered a #1 seed and Final Four favorite. They still have a date at Tennessee and the SEC tournament, but even if they lose 1 more game this year, I'd still put them as the #3 overall seed ahead of Duke, Baylor, Stanford, or Louisville unless Duke/Louisville can upset Notre Dame/UCONN.
Return everyone in your rotation, and add in a top post player and the top recruit in the class who slides in perfectly on the wing, and you have a team that is a Final Four favorite and championship contender in the next few years, especially considering the talent that other top teams (ie. Notre Dame/Connecticut) will be losing.
