South Carolina College Sports

[GvilleSC]

I've mostly been impressed with Clemson's basketball program as of late, and this solidifies it. I just hate I missed the game.

It was domination, Krazee. I'm sure there will be replays on tv. The Tar Heels' record for turnovers was just shy of being broken in the game.

Now, hopefully the Tigers can give the Blue Devils a game next weekend when ESPN College Basketball Gameday is in Tiger town! The showing in Durham was disappointing.

[GvilleSC]

Hah, I love to see a Tar Heel beatdown, even if it comes from Clemson.

If the Tigers can beat NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest they will have beaten every team in North and South Carolina on their schedule (of which there are a surprisingly high number of teams).

USC

CofC

SC State

Winthrop

Presbyterian

Furman

ECU

WCU

UNCCH

UNCG

That's an interesting stat, Spartan! We can add NC State to the list of beaten teams from North Carolina, as Clemson defeated them 73-70 today. A week from today, Clemson gets a second chance against Duke.

[CorgiMatt]

What a night for Darrin Horn and his Gamecocks. Last night on NBC News, President Obama thanked the Kentucky team for raising over $1 million for Haiti and said it was a challenge to stay #1 with a target on your back and that South Carolina is a tough place to play. Then at halftime last night the Kentucky coach (Calapari?) said he had to give South Carolina credit and that "this is a great venue." On ESPN after the game he said "the atmosphere here is great," complimenting USC again for all the nation's high school recruits to hear.

Darrin Horn after the game said the win is "good for the program, good for the school and good for the state."

Here are the ESPN highlights.

[Spartan]

ESPN did a great job covering that game. More importantly, is that it was a great win for the Gamecock Nation! By beating the #1 ranked team, Darrin Horn accomplished something that even Frank McGuire didn't. I hope that this translates to some positive momentum for the program this season.

[HartfordTycoon]

Congrats Gamecocks on the great win from us here in UConn country. I was cheering your guys on! Love to see Calipari go down. I've been feeling kinda bad for you guys since the Bowl. j/k

[Spartan]

College baseball pre-season polls are starting to come out. Several South Carolina teams have made the top 25 on Baseball America's poll:

10- USC

12- Coastal Carolina

15- Clemson

This polls tends to have an ACC bias, so the fact that Carolina and Coastal are ranked as high as they are gives me hope on the season. I feel like I've seen another poll where Clemson was higher and Carolina was lower (like 12/13 respectively) but I'm not sure.

Its going to be another great year for baseball in South Carolina

[krazeeboi]

Devan Downey was SPECTACULAR last night. Lil' guy has heart and skills. I tell you, the smallest towns (in this case, Chester) can produce some of the biggest talent. Congrats to the Gamecocks for this historic win. Both Clemson and Carolina got notable wins under their belt this year.

[krazeeboi]

Congrats to my alma mater, Winthrop, for their win over Coastal to secure the Big South title, and to Wofford for their win over Appalachian State to take the SoCon title. Two SC teams headed to the big dance!

[Spartan]

I was really glad to see Wofford win last night. ASU has had more than its share of time in the limelight.

Isn't there somewhat of an in-state rivalry with Winthrop and Coastal?

It's good to see so many South Carolina teams likely heading to the tournament this year. It's a shame that Carolina won't be among them (barring an unlikely upset of UK and winning the SEC tournament).

Just for fun, how many colleges in South Carolina could theoretically make it to the tournament in any given year? I count 6 assuming that the mid-major conferences are only able to send their champion.

1. Carolina (SEC)
   
2. Clemson (ACC)
   
3. Winthrop/Coastal/PC/Charleston Southern (Big South)
   
4. Upstate (Atlantic sun)
   
5. Wofford/Furman/CofC (SoCon)
   
6. State (MEAC)
   

Am I missing any?

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, Winthrop and Coastal do have a rivalry.

I think the only team you may be missing is the Citadel for SoCon. I found out last night on SportsCenter that they are one of a handful of D-1 teams nationwide that have yet to make it to the Big Dance.

[krazeeboi]

So USC falls to Alabama in the SEC tournament, and Clemson falls to NC State in the ACC tournament. Oh well. Once again, it's up to the schools in lower-profile conferences to represent SC in the NCAA tournament. It would be great to see Winthrop get past the first round this year, but I won't hold my breath.

[GvilleSC]

So USC falls to Alabama in the SEC tournament, and Clemson falls to NC State in the ACC tournament. Oh well. Once again, it's up to the schools in lower-profile conferences to represent SC in the NCAA tournament. It would be great to see Winthrop get past the first round this year, but I won't hold my breath.

Clemson will still be representing the state in the NCAA tourney. An early fall from the ACC tournament means little.

[krazeeboi]

Clemson will still be representing the state in the NCAA tourney. An early fall from the ACC tournament means little.

I thought they had gotten knocked out entirely. Well, hopefully they can make a great showing in the tourney. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when Tech whooped up on UNC.

[goodbye]

I thought they had gotten knocked out entirely. Well, hopefully they can make a great showing in the tourney. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when Tech whooped up on UNC.

You got it backwards, the Gamecocks were knocked out entirely several games earlier. Clemson finished with more than 20 wins and clenched a 7 seed against Missouri. That will be a difficult opponent.

[krazeeboi]

You got it backwards, the Gamecocks were knocked out entirely several games earlier.

The loss to Alabama in the SEC tournament ended USC's season. They could have secured a tournament appearance with a strong showing in the SEC tournament, but it was highly unlikely.

[Spartan]

True. A win over Alabama would have at least secured an NIT appearance. But IMO, looking back Carolina's season was over when Dominique Archie got injured and Mike Holmes was dismissed. Losing two of our three key players, one of which was our top scorer set us back a year. We won a few games, and the win over UK was stellar, but aside from that this was a mediocre year. Devan Downey will go down as one of the greatest Gamecocks ever, but he had to carry the whole team and you can't win games that way. Horn had a highly ranked recruiting class this year, so next season I hope to see an improvement. I will be unsatisfied with anything short of a tournament appearance and a decent showing in the SEC.

[krazeeboi]

My alma mater, Winthrop, had a really good chance to advance in the tournament this past Tuesday when they took on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but they just couldn't pull it off. They would have gotten their pants beat off going against Duke (I think Pine Bluff plays them today), but at least they would have gotten their first tournament win under their belts. Oh well, I suppose it's time to focus on next year.

[CorgiMatt]

Only three states sent more teams to the NCAA tournament than SC did. That's where the good news ends.

[krazeeboi]

Yep, because now all the SC teams are out.

[Spartan]

Wofford had a good showing though. They were 30 seconds from making it to round 2. It's a tough loss for them.

[CorgiMatt]

I had to google this to find anything to substantiate the rumor I heard first thing this morning that Oliver Purnell is leaving Clemson. Does anyone know if it's true? If so, maybe the Gamecocks can steal one from the Tigers next season while they're breaking in their new coach. Maybe.

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2010/apr/06/report-purnell-leaving-clemson-hoops-depaul-ar-82333/

[GvilleSC]

It appears to be true. He's done amazing things with the program. Hopefully the next hire is a smart one...

[Spartan]

I was really shocked by this move. I thought Purnell had a good thing going at Clemson. To my knowledge everyone liked him. He's built a solid program over there.

[GvilleSC]

Apparently Columbia's new mayor has an eye on professional sports. What are everyone's thoughts? When the Bombers left, I think it was mostly out of spite and jealousy, but most forumers stated that Columbia didn't need professional sports.

Columbia did not have the same foresight. Instead, it jumped in bed with USC, which built its own baseball stadium. The majority of the tickets are sold to Gamecock Club members. As a result, the city is left with USC women's basketball as its only affordable family sports outlet.

Charleston and Greenville serve as the best examples of what a new ball park can do for a city's civic pride, as well as for its ability to grow the local economy.

The State

The comments on the article were entertaining.

[Spartan]

I'm not going to take much time to react to a Ron Morris editorial.

I still maintain that Columbia doesn't need professional sports, but I will agree that there is no reason they shouldn't have them. Columbia ought to try to get a minor league baseball team again, but only if they can get an A or AA minor league team. My only question is, will people come out to watch? That I don't know. I'm assuming nobody went to the Bomber's games because they skipped town.

That kind of statement you quoted regarding ticket price is close minded. All USC sports are affordable, and you can get tickets wherever you want it you just look for them. I bought some 'reserved' tickets to Carolina vs Florida, it cost me $8 each and I'm going to be looking right down the 1st base line. On top of that, Carolina is consistently great at baseball, so it's not like you're going to see some junker team.

Charleston and Greenville don't have a university in a so-called NCAA "power conference" right in the center of town. That dynamic is unique to Columbia in this instance.