Good luck to seven former South Carolina football players as they will be representing the Gamecocks in the upcoming NFL Combine.

The seven Gamecocks that were invited are:

1. Justice Cunningham - TE
2. DeVonte Holloman - LB/SPUR
3. T.J. Johnson - OL
4. Marcus Lattimore - RB
5. Ace Sanders - WR
6. D.J. Swearinger - S
7. Devin Taylor - DE

Ace Sanders is the lone early entrant to the NFL draft as  he decided to exit the program after finishing his junior year at USC. The rest have had their time at USC expire.

The NFL Combine begins on Feb. 20th so keep a eye out on how these men perform. Most of the above will be late round pickups but you never know as the Combine is a time to shine and improve the draft stock. Regardless, we wish them luck and appreciate their tenure as members of Gamecock Nation. The program is better because of them.

Lost in shuffle of seven consecutive BCS titles, dominating recruiting, dominating the NFL draft, and anticipated television networks a funny thing happened. Attendance at SEC football games dropped.  The SEC continued to lead the nation at 75,444 fans per game, but that was its lowest average since 2007. SEC crowds are down 2 percent since peaking in 2008 at 76,844.

It is hard to believe, but the SEC’s championship streak is older than the iPhone. The first iPhone was released in the summer of 2007. The first tweet was sent in July of 2006 about the time Urban Meyer was attending his second SEC media days and was trying to ward off a quarterback controversy between senior incumbent Chris Leak and true freshman phenom Tim Tebow. Technology (particularly the affordability of large HD TVs) and how we absorb information, especially sports information has changed drastically in the last half dozen years. This is partly responsible for a drop in attendance.

Remember what you would during a TV timeout five or six years ago? Maybe try and get a text out to grab a score from a buddy at home. Chat with the fans around you or jaw with an opposing fan a couple seats down. Now, everyone sits down, pulls out their phones, gripes about poor connections and tries to check twitter to see what is going on in the other games of note. If you are under 40 and something else happens in your section, let me know.

According to many reliable reports, South Carolina defensive line coach Brad Lawing is vacating his position under Coach Steve Spurrier to become part of Will Muschamp's defensive staff at the University of Florida Gators.

Not fully sure of the reasons for the departure but on the surface it does not make a lot of sense. For Lawing, he is giving up the chance to coach Jadeveon Clowney one more season and put a stamp on his legacy as a great line coach. Not to mention, he has spent 17 total seasons in Columbia. I guess Coach Muschamp made a offer either via the money angle or the coaching responsibilites route that Lawing could not turn down.

Hate to see this and this loss stings. Not sure why but it does. I guess cause it is Lawing or because it is the Gators. Either way, hate to see this news today.

One thing is certain, the Gamecocks will not have a hard time finding someone to come in given back-to-back 11 win seasons not to mention the talent the line has already in place. Lawing was a good one and seemed to be a solid member of the staff, which again makes this so surprising, but coaching is a business. Time to begin the new chapter.... 

The South Carolina Gamecocks basketball team lost today versus the Vanderbilt Commodores by the score of 58-51 but there was a cool video shown at halftime. Check out this football highlight video:

Here is the South Carolina football highlights from the 2012 regular season, check it out:

The 2012 South Carolina Gamecocks football season has officially ended, so we might as start focusing on the 2013 season.  Here is a (way too) early look at the schedule and how things look now....  

NORTH CAROLINA

The Tar Heels were unable to find a way to back out of the return game of a home and home contract.  It certainly wasn't for trying.  This game was also tenatively scheduled to open the season on a Thursday, but is now slated for Saturday.  It will be an ugly opening game as most of them are, but Carolina shouldn't have much trouble with the Tar Heels and should open 1-0.

@ Georgia

If you like hearing hype about Aaron Murray and Gurshall, this is the off season for you.  Expect to hear about how close the Bulldogs were in Atlanta against Alabama and how wonderful the UGa offense will be.  All that aside, Aaron Murray has the change to be the greatest Bulldog quarterback in South Carolina history.  I expect a shoot out in Athens like 2011, but I think the Dawgs finally get over the hump with their offensive firepower and a relatively inexperienced USC secondary. 1-1 (0-1)

VANDERBILT

This game won't be same old Vanderbilt, and as long as James Franklin is there we'll be obliged to begin all comments on the Commodores that way.  The Dores are still a recruiting class or two away.  South Carolina should win this game by about 10, something like 24-14.  2-1, (1-1).

More after the jump....

Last Monday South Carolina junior receiver Ace Sanders indicated he would be coming back to school for his senior year.  Last night he indicated he is going to turn pro.  Yesterday, January 15, was the last day underclassmen could declare for the NFL draft.

There is now a second deadline looming.  January 18th is the last day a declared underclassman can remove his name from the NFL draft and return to school.  To do that the player cannot sign with an agent and can't do anything else to lose his eligibility, i.e., accept gifts, benefits, etc.

I wouldn't count on Ace changing his mind in the next three days, but he has changed it once, so it could happen.  All reports have indicated that this was a close decision for Sanders which probably explains the change of heart.

Remember 2010? At the time, it seemed the SEC West was set to reign supreme. Nick Saban had won the 2009 BCS title. Auburn won it in 2010. LSU won in 2007 and had an NFL pipeline of talent. Bobby Petrino had elevated Arkansas to a contender.

The SEC East on the other hand was as bad as it had ever been. Florida had tumbled from the top of the mountain to an Urban Meyer made Swamp of mediocrity. Mark Richt was on the hot seat after losing to UCF in the Liberty Bowl. Tennessee was a mess with Derek Dooley being the 3rd man in three years to be head coach in Knoxville. South Carolina had a break through year as a program, but won the school's first division title on a 5-3 conference record before getting blown out by Auburn.

Funny how things change in two short years. Bobby Petrino lost control of his motorcycle, got fired, and Arkansas is now rebuilding. After two close but no cigar years in Baton Rouge, LSU is hemorrhaging talent with nine underclassmen declaring for the draft. Auburn ran out of Cam Newtons and Chizik got run off after posting an 0-8 conference record in 2012. Alabama still reigns supreme, and new comer Texas A&M appears to be the closest challenger (yes, Aggies, I am aware y'all did win in Tuscaloosa). After that, there is a significant drop in the West.

Steve Spurrier has elevated South Carolina to official contender status as the Gamecocks have passed Tennessee and join Florida and Georgia at the top of the East. Mark Richt has new life in Athens after winning back-to-back SEC East tites and coming up five yards short of an SEC title. Will Muschamp in year two, posted 11 wins including wins over Texas A&M, LSU, South Carolina, and Florida State. No doubt Alabama is top dog, but for 2013, the toughest division in the conference is the SEC East.

Looks like the balance of power, minus Alabama, has shifted to the SEC East....right?

During the season some games seemed great, while others seemed disappointing, and at the time we knew that we were only looking at a sliver of the season and would really know the good and bad performances in hindsight.  Now that the season is over we can look at our opponents' season averages and compare USC's performance against those.  We can then determine which games were our best, and which were our worst.

The theory behind this comparison is that a raw number doesn't tell the whole story.  If South Carolina holds Team A to 200 yards rushing and Team B to 150 yards rushing, is the performance against Team B really better?  It depends on the opponents.  If Team A is Wofford who averaged nearly 350 yards rushing per game and Team B is UAB who averaged just over 110 yards per game, then giving up more yards to Wofford was actually the better performance.

Applying that reasoning and looking at the defense, South Carolina's best defense against the run came against Vanderbilt.  The Commodres averaged166.3 yards rushing per game, and Carolina's defense held them to merely 62 yards.  That difference of 104.3 yards was the greatest of the season.  The best passing defensive game and total defensive game, measured by yards, came against Georgia.  The Bulldogs threw for 176 yards below their season average and gained 244 less total years than their season average.  They also scored 31 fewer points, another Carolina defensive best.

It is official, the South Carolina football team is a Top 10 team. The Gamecocks have finished in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll for only the second time in school history. The Gamecocks (11-2) were ranked No. 8 in the country in the final AP poll of the year and finished ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll.

When we heard the news, this was our reaction: