Gamecocks face the 'mighty' UT

No not Texas but the Univ of Tennessee. UT is currently ranked eighth with a 13-1 record and will square off in the Colonial Center on Saturday night against the mighty Gamecocks.

But get this: The Gamecocks are 5-1 at home against UT in coach Dave Odom’s six years. This, however, could be the best UT team the Gamecocks have faced under Odom. The Volunteers are coming off an 85-83 win over No. 16 Mississippi and heading into this week’s play they ranked second in the nation in steals (12.2 a game) and fourth in scoring (87.4 points).

Should be a good one and maybe the Gamecocks can avoid a quality loss and win....gosh knows the coach needs to win.

Davis gone...good for Clemson

Well after a defeat on the hardwood, at least the Gamecock faithful has something good to talk about....seems Clemson's football team may not be worthy after all of that # 10 ranking from Rivals.com. Recent news out of Clemson (besides the loss to the 49ers) is about Clemson's James Davis turning pro and not to mention defensive end Phillip Merling has indicated he will enter the NFL draft also.

Don't think it was the right move for these guys to go pro and didn't Bowden say after the loss in the bowl game that everyone is coming back in '08? Oh well, I am sure Tommy Bowden is crying today not to mention this will be excuse number 53 next year from the Clemson fans on why they did not win the ACC title.

Gamecocks lose to Vandy

Even though it was the Gamecocks best showing in a game as a team in a long time, the Gamecocks (8-7, 0-1) fell short but did play with great effort. Vanderbilt won by the score of 80-73, in what was the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. I think the key for a Vandy win and the loss for the Gamecocks was at the free throw line. The Gamecocks shot just four free throws -- they made them all -- while Vanderbilt was 15 of 17, all coming in the second half.

Anywho if you care, you can read more HERE.

Oh, those pesky Clemson Tigers got a surprise loss last night by a group of 49ers --more here.

West by god Virginia, not so nice

When burning couches in Morgantown isn't enough, you go after the coach’s family and kids. Granted I have always thought that Rodriguez was kind of a shyster, even back in his days at Clemson. Well I think the gamecock club should take some of there dues and hire a mob of WVU fans to come down here to run Uncle Dave out of town, then maybe hire there coach Bob Huggins.

GRANT TOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Relatives of Rich Rodriguez have been harassed and threatened in the three weeks since his resignation as West Virginia football coach.His mother, Arleen Rodriguez, said her teenage grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont High School. Arleen said her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes.Mountaineer fans furious over Rodriguez's Dec. 16 decision to accept the coaching job at Michigan also vandalized his home near Morgantown, hanging signs on a fence and tossing a mailbox in the yard."He put seven years into WVU and now everybody thinks he's garbage," his mother said. "Think like a parent. That's all I can say. Think about it. Think about what you're doing."The backlash has been even more venomous on the Facebook social networking site, where dozens of groups with profanity-laced names have formed, devoted to wishing ill for Rodriguez and his family.A similar but short-lived fury boiled up last month against Mountaineer kicker Pat McAfee, who received angry text messages and had his car vandalized after missing two field goals in West Virginia's 13-9 loss to Pitt. The loss knocked WVU out of national championship contention, but the team went on without Rodriguez to beat Oklahoma at the Fiesta Bowl.Several wealthy football boosters claim there was behind-the-scenes tension between Rodriguez and the WVU administration, but the coach has yet to publicly discuss the matter."I don't think he felt wanted at WVU anymore," his mother said.

2008 Preseason College Football Rankings

Thanks Rivals.com for being the first out of the gate with a 2008 Preseason Poll. I know it is way to early to predict with signing day around the corner and some teams still have players waiting to decide to go pro but it is still interesting to look at and think about.

POLL HERE ---Check out who is # 24 and don't believe that #10 ranking. I think this poll will change a whole lot by the start of two-a-days.

Any thoughts going into 08 or concerning this poll?

A renewed push for a playoff system...

No matter what side of the fence you land on concerning the BCS debate it is interesting to notice the most recent 'push' that is set to begin on this ongoing saga - BCS or playoff system.

I wrote about this some time ago - here - and do feel something needs to change, whether it is a playoff system or a plus one game. Anyway....there is a new hope for those who want to see the BCS system end and it is due to UGA feeling slighted by the "system." UGA President Dr. Adams is going to begin to raise the issue - read more HERE.

What do you think should happen - Should the BCS be scrapped for a playoff system or is UGA just the newest set of crybabies?

No more BIG 10 teams in the BCS

There are curtains things in life that are guaranteed, taxes, and death have always been the most obvious , but now I think we can add Ohio State losing to the SEC in bowl games. Again and again they try and say the Big 10 is the best football conference, and Ohio State is the ring leader, well I think Les Miles disproved that theory last night. Just like last year Ohio State came out ready to play, scoring quickly. Building a 10 point lead in the first quarter I thought maybe Ohio State was ready to compete with the SEC, but of course they weren’t. They said speed was the difference, but I am going to go out on a limb and say better players and better coaching is the big difference. How nice would it be if the winner of last nights game could play the winner of USC/ Georgia for a real National championship.

So my question to the loyal readers of LOHD is which SEC team will beat OSU in a bowl game next year? Will it be the national championship game, or has the BCS learned there lesion about putting the Big 10 in the Big Game.

It is back

After 14 years off air American Gladiators is back, and better then ever. With Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as the co host this is sure to be a smash hit. They have added some new games as well as they now have added water events. The Gladiators are still enormous bull dikes and muscle bound monsters men. I didn’t get to watch all of the first episode last night due to the damn Clemson/ UNC game but it seemed like it is going to be a good show.

MNC links

For those of you who would rather do pretty much anything other than the work you are supposed to be doing, I am following Flounder's lead and giving you more links to previews to tonight's game:

Sunday Morning Quarterback has perhaps the most exhaustive and in depth preview: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. There may be a Part 4 later today.

Roll Bama Roll has an interesting article about whether either team necessarily deserves to be champion.

The Dead Guy's SEC site has the best picture to go along with its commentary.

Taco Bell Soft Tacos at Loser with Socks has a slight LSU lean to his preview.

I'll add more links as they become available.

Delenda est Clemson.

Who you pickn' to win the BCS Trophy?

All right time to put up or shut up! Who you got tonight? Who do you think will win the BCS Title Game?

For a good breakdown check out our pal at Garnet & Black (and he is our source for the pic above too) for a complete analysis - here and here!

Or you can read these other blogs to get caught up on some of the chatter-

SB Nation blog for LSU: And the Valley Shook
SB Nation blog for Ohio State: Around the Oval

Post who you think will win and the score and maybe why you think so in the comment section!

Another loss, another day of trying to figure out how to fire Uncle Dave

Wow, as I sat there in the Colonial Center on Saturday night, I was in disbelief. Between UNCA’s 7-7 center or how bad USC really is. Last year Uncle Dave said we were going to relay on the outside shot, which resulted in coming in last in the SEC in shooting percentage. This year Uncle Dave said we were going to have a press defense with a run and gun kind of offense. Well on Saturday we didn’t press, and played a half court offense that was pretty much shut down by a mid major UNCA. Granted a 7-7 center will change your offense plan, but we still should have pressed there guards on the inbounds and in the backcourt, and push the ball up the court off rebounds. George, UNCA’s center was slow and could not keep up with the Gamecock speed. Now we head to Vandy, which has big man and a team that shoots the 3 with the best of them. I would be surprised if USC won a game in the SEC, I am sure we will surprise somebody, but come on.

The best part of the game was this crazy lady in the UNCA section behind the bench kept making a sue pig sound, which got the band going. So every time she made the sound, the band would echo it back to her.

Gamecocks lose to UNC - A

That is correct and no the title is not wrong. Dave-y Odom and the Boys yet again give up a late lead to lose yet another game. God help USC when the SEC portion of the schedule comes around soon and hopefully Odom is in his office today finding his resume b/c things are not so happy in columbia.

The University of South Carolina looked nothing like team ready for Southeastern Conference play after a stunning 61-58 loss to North Carolina-Asheville on Saturday night.

Not after USC led by seven with 3:57 left and failed to score again, missing five shots and committing back-to-back turnovers in the final 1:26 seconds while UNC-Asheville finished on a 10-0 run, scoring on its final five possessions. UNC-Asheville (11-3) beat USC for only the second time in nine meetings, the Gamecocks (8-6) certainly don't look ready to travel to 15th-ranked Vanderbilt (15-0) on Wednesday night to begin play in the SEC.

More on the game here.