South Carolina

Will South Carolina be a better team this year--definitely. Will they win more games--probably not. Spurrier won several games that he shouldn't have last year, and that's why he gets the big bucks. However, the teams he took advantage of won't make the same mistake twice. South Carolina is a sleeper pick that could make some noise, especially in an SEC East with a lot of questions. But South Carolina just isn't there yet either; though, unlike Miss. State, the Gamecocks actually have a chance of making it to the upper tier as long as Spurrier is there.

So on to the schedule. They open with a win at Miss. State, and then Georgia comes to town. We'll see just how big of a fall-off there is from Shockley to Tereshinski. I'm not calling an upset because, quite frankly, UGA is always stacked. In a shootout, though, the Gamecocks have a chance. Georgia's defense (those members not suspended) need to make a statement early. If they do, they win this one without too much of a fight. Wofford and and FAU are both easy wins, but then they get Auburn. Hypothetically, if this game were played a week earlier and Auburn was coming off a loss to LSU, South Carolina would have a chance of an upset. As it is, Auburn tunes up with Buffalo first. Shouldn't be close, but we'll see. Kentucky and Vandy should both be wins, but then you get Tennessee. At this point, I refuse to pick a team. I think the Vols should win this game, but we'll know just how much they've rebounded after their first game against Cal. Maybe then I'll actually make a solid choice. We'll see. Arkansas is next, and that game spells trouble. I like the Hogs this year. Should be a nice dogfight. Air vs. Ground. Let's see it. Too close to call at this point. Florida is a loss, but Middle Tenn is an easy win. The season finale against Clemson is too close to call again. Everybody is jumping on the Clemson bandwagon, but I haven't seen them play a snap, so I'm not gonna make a pick yet here either. Final tally--South Carolina could range from 6-6 to 9-3. If I had to guess, I'd err closer to 7-5. On paper, they win 6, but with Spurrier, they are almost guaranteed to win one that they shouldn't.

I am very curious to see what happens at QB this year. Yes, they have Blake Mitchell, but they also have Chris Smelley, a Spurrier recruit. I'm sure that as long as they have Mitchell, they'll play him and let Smelley learn the system, but Spurrier QB's have a history of success that has to make me wonder if we won't see Smelley in a few series relatively early in a few games against inferior opponents, just to see how he handles it. Should be an interesting next few years. Honestly, I wouldn't complain if Spurrier changed the name of South Carolina to Florida East. I'd like to see them at the top, but primarily, on par with Georgia, Florida, and (excluding last year) Tennessee.