South Carolina College Sports

[whitehourseview]

All I know is that on every sports channel this week, including during college football games, when they show the name S. Carolina it will have a 7 before it. If we beat UNC we might have a 6 or 5 before it next week.

Funny you say that, and honest, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I was watching the sports news on Fox Sports last night and they only listed one poll, the USA Today one, didn't mention the AP at all.

The only explanation I have for that is because Fox televises the BCS games, so they don't even acknowledge anything that does not reflect that business reality for them, just as ESPN used to be part of the USA Today/ ESPN ranking while Disney/ABC/ESPN had the BCS games, but dropped that when they were outbid for the new contract.

Again, whatever, South Carolina is having a solid year so far, not trying to take anything away from them at all, and whether it's #7, 9 or what not, that reflects a great reality for the Gamecocks right now. I'm just trying to wrap my head around today's college football's realities as much as anything.

And thanks above for mentioning the two I-AA polls, I thought there was only one. I don't know how much input, if any either plays in selecting the 16 teams for the playoff. I gather that the participates are chosen by a blue ribbon committee like the basketball tournaments that are selected in March.

[CorgiMatt]

One odd ball station with an ulterior motive doesn't carry much clout. I place more weight on the ESPN Coaches' Poll than on USA Today's sports writers' poll, and the former has Carolina at #7. The higher we are, though, the more of a target we become. So, whatever.

[whitehourseview]

One odd ball station with an ulterior motive doesn't carry much clout. I place more weight on the ESPN Coaches' Poll than on USA Today's sports writers' poll, and the former has Carolina at #7. The higher we are, though, the more of a target we become. So, whatever.

ESPN doesn't have a poll, they are out of that business now. They now use the AP writer's poll. USA Today uses the coaches poll.

[CorgiMatt]

And the coaches definitely have ulterior motives behind their votes. The bottom line is polls-schmolls, but it'll be fun looking at the 7 in front of our name Saturday.

[Spartan]

Well, on a positive note, Carolina won, even if it was a very dirty win. It didn't feel like I was watching the leader of the SEC East playing an unranked low tier ACC school. It will be interesting to see the polls tomorrow, given the big upsets at LSU and California.

[CorgiMatt]

And the coaches definitely have ulterior motives behind their votes. The bottom line is polls-schmolls, but it'll be fun looking at the 7 in front of our name Saturday.

As ugly as the win was, next week when I see our name on television (except for FSN I guess), it will have a 6 in front of it.

[sonofaque86]

Them Clemsux fans are kinda quiet in here

[knightrider162]

Them Clemsux fans are kinda quiet in here

Would you exactly be loud on a bye week?

[GvilleSC]

Them Clemsux fans are kinda quiet in here

I'd expect nothing less from a Carolina fan. In related news, Clemson has won an honor (again) for its sportsmanship initiative. Find out more here:Institute for International Sports names Clemson All-American Sportsmanship School. This is why Clemson is the class of the state of South Carolina.

[teshadoh]

Them Clemsux fans are kinda quiet in here

Try - just for the sake of it being a novel idea - to be a college football fan with some level of class. I can assure you, it really isn't that hard to not say negative things all the time in order to boost your appreciation for your preferred team.

[Spartan]

Whatever. If Clemson was #6 in the nation, they would be doing no less. that said, it was a by week for Clemson, so we really need to wait a week. I dont think Central Michigan will be a problem.

[teshadoh]

I don't see sonohague as "USC" just as no one should see me as "Clemson", I don't see any reason why people can't be civil to one another. I have nothing but positive feelings for USC & I'm very happy for them having such a successful season this year.

As for Central Michigan, the way this season has been for most football teams - they are no "sure win".

[Spartan]

^ good point.

[sonofaque86]

Damn y'all are sensitive.

[waccamatt]

Would you exactly be loud on a bye week?

Yes, because our bye week this season is the week before we play Clemson. Cockadoodledooooo.

[CorgiMatt]

Well, there's the AP Poll, the USA Today Poll and some other polls, but the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) has the Gamecocks at #6. I'm glad, but we have a hard schedule ahead, starting with Vanderbilt.

[Spartan]

^Carolina is top 10 in all the major polls (AP, Coaches, Harris, ESPN, BCS)

It does vary from poll to poll though. I sincerely hope that our performance improves so we can maintain that high ranking, and beat Vandy. We are fortunate that UNC sucked worse than we did during that game. Improving the ranking will be very difficult unless someone above us looses- but given how things are going this year, its very possible.

[Spartan]

Articles in various news papers talk about the culture at Carolina, and that there are signs that it is changing. Some say it has already changed.

The main case is that this year is the first time that while reaching bowl eligible status earlier than normal (the last time we were 6-1 this early was 15 years ago), there also was no party in 5 points. Maybe its because we're 6th in the nation in the BCS and AP polls. Maybe its because the win over North Carolina was ugly.

What do you think?

Culture has changed at Carolina The Herald-Journal

USC builds on becoming bowl-eligible {sodEmoji.|} The Greenville News

[Spartan]

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed Carolina's run in the top 10. We'll probably be back in there by the end of the season if we can win the next 4 games. I didn't get to watch the game, but a friend of mine said that it looked like Carolina hadn't seen a football field before.

And congrats are in order for Clemson's through stomping of Central Michigan. I don't know what to make of it because CMU is not a good team. Its great momentum for Clemson to have going into next week's game.

[Spartan]

Even though #15 Carolina lost to Tennessee, I'm glad that the impostors who were posing as the Gamecocks for the past two games are gone. We'll probably fall out of the top 25, or be last on the list. Coming back like that shows that we actually can play offense. Who knew?

[teshadoh]

That was a fun game, I thought USC had the win - they were tearing up Tennessee in the second half. Actually, I thought USC started pretty well but due to some bad breaks - and not completely Smelly's fault - the defense faltered. Glad SEC gets plenty of tv coverage, even out here in the west.

Impressed with Clemson - maybe I have been too negative, I expected them to fully collapse but played great vs. Maryland.

Both teams are ranked again though - USC #23 & Clemson #25 according to the AP.

[Spartan]

Clemson is #24 and Carolina is #25 in the Coaches Poll.

[Greenville]

It is interesting to watch perceptions of teams change over the course of a season. Last year, Clemson started out hot and people were talking about a BCS bowl. They seemed to be a much better team than South Carolina at the halfway point. But the Tigers faltered at the end and the Gamecocks got it together. South Carolina beat Clemson and ended their season on a strong note, while Clemson ended the year disappointed after such a great start.

This year, South Carolina started out hot and was ranked in the top 5 or 6 at the midway point. Fans were talking about a BCS bowl. Meanwhile, Clemson was coming off of a rough two game losing streak where they lost in disappointing fashion. Only a few weeks later, South Carolina has faltered and Clemson seems to have picked up the intensity and is playing better. It will certainly be interesting to see how the season concludes, but the last two years can be a lesson to fans of both teams. It is a long season, and we don't really know how good teams are until early January when all of the games have been played.

[whitehourseview]

It is interesting to watch perceptions of teams change over the course of a season. Last year, Clemson started out hot and people were talking about a BCS bowl. They seemed to be a much better team than South Carolina at the halfway point. But the Tigers faltered at the end and the Gamecocks got it together. South Carolina beat Clemson and ended their season on a strong note, while Clemson ended the year disappointed after such a great start.

This year, South Carolina started out hot and was ranked in the top 5 or 6 at the midway point. Fans were talking about a BCS bowl. Meanwhile, Clemson was coming off of a rough two game losing streak where they lost in disappointing fashion. Only a few weeks later, South Carolina has faltered and Clemson seems to have picked up the intensity and is playing better. It will certainly be interesting to see how the season concludes, but the last two years can be a lesson to fans of both teams. It is a long season, and we don't really know how good teams are until early January when all of the games have been played.

It's really a good idea, to as much as possible, to ignore the media chatter and fan expectations about these sorts of things. Like you said, you just don't know what you are dealing with until the end, so it's a good idea to try to have a season perspective, rather than a week by week perspective. On paper, USC and Clemson are above average teams in both their conferences. South Carolina is 3-2 vs. teams with winning records, Clemson 2-2. In total, both squads will face six out of seven final opponents with winning records, that seem to be above average in their conferences. As Coach Bowden often says, people remember November.

Last season, both Clemson finished at 5-3 in conference and ended up in a middling bowl game. The idea is to improve on that, and if not win the division title, at least shoot for the January 1st Gator Bowl. USC finished at 3-5 in conference last year, and a goal is to improve on that by winning at least one of the remaining two of at Arkansas and Florida, and then make a game like January 1st's Outback bowl or the bowl game in Atlanta. And of course there is the rivalry at the end. You want to at least say you improved from one year to the next. The Tigers need to win three of their last four to demonstrably improve and USC needs to win two out of its last three.

It's important to remember that much of the hype around these kind of things is needless and most of it used by media outlets to sell their services and present advertisers and for hype around fan expectations to exist at the margins of highs and lows rather than realistically take into account the fundamentals of these things. And it is a game, played by young adults, so you just don't know what you will get week to week.

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Around the state:

Big South

Charleston Southern is having a poor year, not to be unexpected, but Coastal Carolina is really struggling, which is a bit of a surprise. Presbyterian is now 4-4 in its first transitional year from Div. II to IAA, which is nice, but was beat badly by Liberty last Saturday.

Southern

In perhaps the biggest surprise in the state this year is Furman's poor showing. The Paladins are 3-5, now out of the playoffs for only the second time in nine years. I really can't point to a single reason why either. Wofford, on the other hand, is perhaps the biggest surprise among state colleges, with still only one loss in conference and with a straight shot at the playoffs and a conference title. The Citadel has had a good year, but would about have to win out to have a chance at the playoffs.

North Greenville has had some nice moments this year, but has struggled mightily.

In Division II ranks, Newberry has had a very good season and is in playoff contention as well.

[GvilleSC]

Unfortunately, Clemson lost Jacoby Ford this past game. It'll be interesting to see who steps up to fill his big and FAST shoes.