South Carolina didn't clinch their regional while in Hoover, and there has been talk that they could lose it to Arkansas. Early on Saturday the twitterverse consensus was that an Arkansas win over LSU would move the Columbia Regional to Fayetteville.  The rationale was that Arkansas's RPI would move up into the 20s which coupled with a third place finish in the SEC would be enough to earn a host site.

Of course, Arkansas did not beat LSU on Saturday, and it looks like their RPI will remain in the 30s.  That alone should be enough to deny them a host site, but they are still in the conversation.  For the most part the narrative has been South Carolina or Arkansas.  If that is the option the committee is looking at, Carolina should still host.  

In fairness, the Hogs have two very good arguments:

1. They finished 3rd in the SEC, in front of South Carolina.
2. They swept South Carolina in their regular season series.

Those arguments are relevant, but they are not conclusive.  First, conference finish.  Conference finish is relevant but it is incomplete.  Arkansas played 29 regular season conference games and 28 games outside of the conference.  You have to consider all those games. 

The same is true of the head to head results.  Three games are too few to compare teams for the season.   Head to head results are relevant when the teams are very close in other metrics, but in the key metric, RPI, the teams aren't close.

Arkansas is going to finish about 30th in the RPI; South Carolina is going to finish 13th.  The two aren't close, and RPI has historically been important to the selection committee.

RPI aside, the Gamecocks still finished with more wins and fewer losses against a harder schedule.  USC finished 39-18 against the nation's 14th toughest schedule.  Arkansas finished 37-20 against the 48th toughest schedule.

Bottom line: Over the course of the season South Carolina won more games and lost fewer against a harder schedule.  How can you discount that?

• RPI and SOS numbers come from Warren Nolan's website, which you can find here.

Hoover wasn't kind to the Gamecocks again this year.  After putting themselves in an early 3-0 hole, Carolina clawed back to tie the game at 3.  They created many opportunities to score more runs, but as in the last few games there weren't enough clutch hits.

It seems Carolina has fizzled down the stretch losing 4 of 5 and 2 of the last 3 series, and there is some truth in that.  While the pitching has been steady the hitting is in a collective slump.  Most notably, timely hits aren't coming.

There is a belief that timely hits are a matter of luck and that they come and go without explanation.  While there certainly is a measure of chance that comes and goes, fortune is not the key factor for timely hitting.  Quality at bats and consistent approaches create timely hitting.  Some Gamecocks routinely put together quality approaches while others need to work on that in the regionals.

It wasn't all bad news Thursday.  USC showed a ton of fight and battled back against an outstanding Vanderbilt team.  The kind of battle was reminscient of past championship teams.

Kudos to Jordan Montgomery on an outstlanding pitching performance.  He looked like Montgomery from the beginning of the season.  If he's back to form, Carolina has a real shot to beat anyone when he's pitching.

So what about the regional?  South Carolina should still be hosting, but if someone makes an incredible run, the committee could give away the Gamecocks site.  However, most South Carolina beat writers seem confident there will be a Columbia regional.  Watch out for Virginia Tech, South Alabama and Arkansas.  Pull against them.

The SEC tournament has a new format, but the Gamecocks are having a very familiar experience.  In Carolina's first game of the 2013 tournament they got off to a rough start and ended up in the losers' bracket.

Nolan Belcher clearly didn't have his best stuff and he didn't get enough run support to overcome it.  After giving up 2 in the first and another in the third Belcher battled into the 7th inning.  The offense showed some life in the fourth and tied the game at three.  That was about it.

For the rest of the game the offense squandered every opportunity it generated.  In the 5th, Carolina had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out; they got no runs.  In the 6th they couldn't move a lead off single.  In the 7th, they got a runner in scoring position to no avail.  The 8th started with a lead off walk, which can so often be a team's undoing, but it also went for naught.

One clutch hit and the Gamecocks are probably still in the winners' bracket.  Sometimes those hits come; last night they didn't.  Now Carolina gets to play Vanderbilt in the losers' bracket.

There has been some talk about how solid Carolina's hosting resume is.  Overall it is strong.  Losing 3 of 4 to Mississippi State and 4 of 5 overall wouldn't be ideal, but the Gamecocks should be fine.  They might be punished with a very strong regional field, but they probably aren't going to have to leave Columbia until the Supers, assuming they get that far.

Side Note:  Does anyone know why Hoover has been so unkind to the Gamecocks?  I used to think that the power hitting teams of the mid 2000s didn't do well in the cavernous park, but even Carolina's national championship teams don't seem to do well there.  

A few quick facts: 

• Since winning the SEC Tournament in 2004, Carolina has not had a winning record in any tournament since.  in fact, they've only finished .500 once.
• Since 2000 South Carolina is the winningest program in the SEC.  They've won 13 more games than second place LSU. (excluding the SEC tournament, of course)
• Since 2000 Carolina's SEC regular season winning percentage is .616
• Since 2000 Carolina's SEC tournament winning percentage is .468
• Since the 2004 SEC Championship the winning percentage is only .320

All that being said, this team isn't responsible for that long term trend.  They play #1 Vanderbilt today, and if they win, not only will they lock in their regional, but they will have something positive to build on for the rest of the tournament and the post season.

Carolina starts the SEC tournament tonight against Mississippi State. You may recall that the Gamecocks just played a three game set against the Bulldogs and lost two of three. Tonight's game will be on CSS or ESPN3 and will start 30 minutes after the Vandy - Texas A&M game concludes. The Dores and Aggies play at 5:30 eastern. USC will send their #1 pitcher, Nolan Belcher, to the mound.

This year's SEC tournament has a new format. On the first day 8 teams play 4 games. The losers are eliminated, and the winners join the top 4 seeds in the main bracket. The 8 teams that remain are divided into two (predetermined) sides of 4. Those 4 teams play a traditional double elimination tournament with one exception. Usually the winner of the losers' bracket must beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice. In this tournament the winners of the brackets play once and that winner moves to the final. Clear as mud?

What the Gamecocks have to Win

What the Gamecocks have to Lose

• Trail the season series with Miss State 1-3
• Move to the Losers' Bracket
• End their national seed hopes
• Threaten their hosting position. (They may have this sewn up, but if they go 0-2 and the other teams in consideration do well, they could conceivably lose their site.)

Posted with Blogsy

Darius Rucker gave the commencement speech at the recent University of South Carolina, here is a snipit of his pep talk and as he states, through all of what life provides - Be A Gamecock....

South Carolina dominated Georgia this weekend and won by scores of 7-2, 7-1 and 8-3. The Gamecocks appear to be putting all the pieces together at the right time. Starting pitching was excellent all three days, and the bullpen continues its late surge. Adam Westmoreland and Tyler Webb continue to pitch like All-SEC pitchers, and players like Colby Holmes appear to be stepping up out of the pen. This team has needed another bullpen option, and if Holmes is returning to form, they've found it.

Carolina's bats also had a productive weekend. Joey Pankake and Grayson Greiner are striping the ball. Chase Vergason and Max Schrock are putting together good approaches, and struggling Graham Saiko is getting back on track. English and Bright have had better weekends, numbers wise, but they'll be fine.

After DH'ing Friday and Saturday LB Dantzler took Sunday off because of continued discomfort in his shoulder. He should be back soon, but I wouldn't mind seeing him sit Tuesday to make sure he's healthy for the stretch run.

SEC Standings and Tournament

The Gamecocks are 16-10 in conference. They can't catch Vanderbilt, and Florida can't catch them, so they'll finish 2nd in the East.

The top 4 SEC finishers will get first round byes in the SEC tournament. After the two division champs take spots one and two, three and four are determined by overall conference record without reference to division. Carolina is in 4th with a 2.5 game lead on Miss State and Ole Miss. USC can clinch 4th with just one win this weekend.

The Gamecocks can still get the #3 seed by catching Arkansas. The Hogs have a one game lead and hold the tiebreaker, so Carolina will essentially have to make up two games. If USC sweeps, Arkansas can win no more than two. If USC wins the series but drops a game, Arkansas must be swept. The Hogs are playing Auburn, so I don't expect them to lose the series.

NCAA Tournament

The Gamecocks are in. It's just a question of seeding. Barring a complete collapse Carolina will be one of the 16 regional hosts. They are not now in a position for a national seed. The difference is that a national seed will play all of their games at home until the College World Series; a regional host would play on the road in the super regionals against the national seed.

If Carolina beats Presbyterian and takes the series at Mississippi State, they'll be squarely on the national seed bubble. The finishes of other teams with good resumes and the Gamecocks performance in Hoover will determine who gets the last national seeds.

Posted with Blogsy

Here is the reaction from the graduate assistants for the South Carolina Gamecocks football team after getting the email from quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus about losing out on Drew Barker....

Somewhere we missed that former South Carolina standout Eric Norwood was exploring his options in the Arena Football League. He recently signed a one-year contract with the San Jose SaberCats.

We knew last season, Norwood played for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League and seemed to be doing well since his Panther playing days with the goal of getting back to the NFL. We hope that happens for him again.

As a member of the SaberCats, he has recorded two tackles in playing just one game thus far. Good luck in the future Eric.

Cool video from James Quantz Jr. and Dust of the Ground showing a recent photo shoot for the 2013 South Carolina Gamecock football team. Images from this shoot will be used for various publications to promote this upcoming season. Check it out:

Gamecock Athletics Behind the Scenes Photo Shoot from James Quantz Jr on Vimeo.

If you can accurately categorize this Carolina baseball team let us know because we can't. This team lost to Gardner-Webb (RPI 165) on Tuesday and then went to LSU (#2) and took two of three from them. Needless to say the weekend more than made up for the midweek. More good news? There's no midweek game this week.

It's common knowledge that a team doesn't always perform at the same level every game. There is a spread of possible performances. Different teams have different spreads. One of the CWS winning Carolina teams didn't lose a midweek game. That's a small spread. Last year's team lost to Francis Marion and made it to the CWS finals. That's a big spread.

This year's team has a big spread. Even this week had a big spread. With the win at LSU we know how good they can be. The team is now mostly healthy, and Wynkoop's emergence has changed the complexion of the pitching staff for the better.

Pitching. The Gamecock pitching staff had a very strong weekend on the whole. Wynkoop was excellent as was Montgomery. Belcher wasn't as good as he has been other times, but part of that is LSU. Westmoreland was good in relief, and Webb remains dominant. Carolina had their best pitchers in the game when they needed them.

USC still needs more consistent arms. There is plenty of talent on the roster, but one or two reliable relievers would make all the difference in the world. Colby Holmes has the talent to be that guy. Evan Beal does too. Could Vince Fiori be ready? I'm not sure, but there needs to be just a bit more to feel truly comfortable in the stretch and in the post season.

USC had some timely hits this weekend. Only one batter had an average over .300 this weekend (of course it was Dantzler), and LSU has very good pitching. The difference between a signature road win and a frustrating road loss was the timeliness of the hitting. Carolina's bats provided the hits, and often LSU's did not.

Timely hitting hasn't been there all year. It's not something that can be practiced. It sometimes kinda comes and goes. The better hitting team you are, the more timely hits you are going to get. But you're not going to get them all the time. Right now Carolina is a better hitting team than they were earlier, and they can still get better.

Connor Bright has benefitted from being an every game player, and Grayson Greiner has found his swing as well. Dantzler, Pankake, Schrock and Vergason continue to be productive, and English is doing well too. Graham Saiko is in a slump right now. It'd be really nice for him to work his way out of that. If he could, Carolina would have the offensive firepower to make a deep run this summer.

Posted with Blogsy