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.

Most Gamecock fans think of basketball season as the void between football and baseball season.  This could not be more true if you only started paying attention to Gamecock sports during the Dave Odom or Darren Horn basketball coaching era at USC. Now the "new" coach, Frank Martin, is looking to change this trend and is looking to do it rather quickly.  For us fans, this is a welcome sight.

After USC spanked Arkansas this past Saturday by the score of 75 to 54, USC fans are starting to notice what Frank Martin has been able to obtain this season.  The 2013 Gamecocks men's hoops squad might not be as talented as the team from last season but they play good defense and hustle. Coach Martin has coached confidence and intensity and it seems to be paying off. Through six game in conference play, the Gamecocks have already tied their win total from last season. That is huge if you think of the change this program has gone through combined with the players on the team this season.  

The question now will be - can USC beat a top ranked Florida team on the road?  USC will need to defend the post against the Gators as well as slow down Erik Murphy.  Murphy is a 6-10 forward that can play the post as well as shoot from behind the arc.  Murphy will cause match-up problems for the smaller Gamecocks and that could be the difference in the game on Wednesday.  USC will also need to account for Florida's senior guard Kenny Boynton, as he leads the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game. To put it simple, USC needs to continue their solid defense, limit turnovers and get some three balls to fall.  

As far as the rest of the season goes, if Coach Martin can keep this team focused and playing with the same intensity as the Arkansas game, I would consider this season a success already and could earn a NIT berth at the rate they are going. 

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....

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?

Continue Reading

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.

In this episode of the Gamecocks Podcast, we provide you with a wrap up discussion on the South Carolina win over Michigan in the Outback Bowl.

Take a listen as your ears will thank you:

Also...

The South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team is in a rebuilding phase for the 2012-2013 season. The squad has a new coach in Frank Martin with many new faces to go along with a new scheme. So what are the expectations for the Gamecocks in 2012-2013? Well, here is some thoughts...

As you could see in the recent defeat of Kentucky Wesleyan by the score of 68-67 in an exhibition game, it will be a struggle all year. The team just does not have a lot of warm bodies to put on the floor so it will show not to mention the team is mostly new so they are learning how to play with each other. Regardless of all the excuses we could throw at you, the bottom line is we do what to see a competing basketball squad in each contest. I would say that is goal number one in terms of expectations; play hard each time out despite the score.

The second expectation is for USC to win five SEC games. I may be shooting low but if we can win five SEC contests, I will be proud.

The third expectation is to win eight games before conference play. It will be tough but I feel they can do it as they have games against the likes of Morgan State, Rider and App. State.

The fourth expectation is to beat Clemson. If that occurs, part of me says the season is a success given the circumstances of 2012-2013.

The final expectation is to keep the positive vibes around the basketball program. Everyone should know the team is limited this season and this will be a year that will have plenty of heartache but keep the faith as good things are coming.

So what are your expectations?

Gamecocks Podcast in now on ITunes.  Yeap, your South Carolina Gamecocks blogging crew here at Leftoverhotdog.com is happy to report that you can now get our "Gamecocks Podcast" from ITunes.

Here is the link - - http://itun.es/iBY5k8 .  Now download all the podcasts in the future either here on this site or via the ITunes store.  They are free so don't complain.

It took us 34 episodes but we finally decided to post them to Itunes and catch up with the digital age.

Hope you enjoy, listen and tell others.