At the beginning of the season if you told a South Carolina fan that they would be a win away from a bowl game they wouldn’t have taken you serious. Then they also tell you that South Carolina would have a chance at winning the SEC East they would have then laughed at you. Even with the addition of Will Muschamp, South Carolina was still a year or two away from even being considered a serious threat in the SEC. Now they are win and a shake of fairy dust away from making the trip to the Georgia Dome in December.
The 2010 SEC Championship was a sight of horror for the young but explosive South Carolina squad. The Tigers of Auburn, led by QB Cam Newton, stormed through South Carolina winning in dominant fashion by 39 points. Gamecock fans continue to await the day that they will return to that game and avenge their only loss. The path doesn’t have much light shining through it but with one win, the Gamecocks will open that door to a much wider horizon.
On this coming saturday the Gamecocks go into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with only one intention and that’s to clinch a bowl berth, which with a win will make them bowl eligible, but with a win will come much more opportunities but for any of those opportunities to matter, the
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Gamecocks first must beat Florida. Heading into the game on Saturday, it doesn’t look very good for the Gamecocks as they have to face the #22 ranked Gators on the road but the Gamecocks are facing the Gators on the best week possible.
On Monday this week, Florida announced that starting QB Luke Del Rio suffered a shoulder injury during the loss to Arkansas and would be out for the game against South Carolina. Florida also lost two of their Linebackers, Jarrad Davis (ankle) and Alex Anzalone (wrist), as well during the loss. Center Cam Dillard, Wide Receiver Tyrie Cleveland, and Kick Returner Chris Thompson also are inactive this week against the South Carolina squad. This leaves Florida digging for some sort of magic gold dust coming in the form of Senior Austin
Appleby. Appleby, the former Boilermaker, transferred to Florida in early January and has done little to impress the Gators this year. Appleby has started in four games this year and has throw for 470 yards, 3 touchdowns, and has given up one interception this season. The South Carolina pass rush will be a key factor in the game. To rattle Appleby early will make for an uncomfortable 60 minutes for Appleby and a key factor if the Gamecocks want to walk out of Florida bowl eligible. On paper, it’s hard to pick against Florida. The Gators are ranked 3rd in the nation in Total Defense whereas South Carolina is ranked 120th in Total Offense yet that’s my exact reasoning. Florida are not expecting the Gamecocks as huge threats and ever since Freshman QB Jake Bentley has taken charge of the offense, the Gamecocks have looked like a legitimate threat to anybody they face. Also, this is Will Muschamp’s return to Gainesville and i’m sure there is a small fire brewing that will ignite this week at practice. Yet, if the Gamecocks still want a chance to make the SEC Championship they will need help elsewhere. If the Gamecocks want a chance to play in Atlanta in December a lot of things need to go their way. They not only need to beat Florida, the Gamecocks need Tennessee to knock off Kentucky in Knoxville and Auburn must beat Georgia. If the Gamecocks win in Gainesville, I really like the chances for the young Gamecock squad. Tennessee started off the year very strong, starting off the season 5-0. Tennessee then dropped three straight losing to Texas A&M, Alabama, and South Carolina. Tennessee now sits at 6-3 following a win against Tennessee Tech. Tennessee knows they can’t afford a loss, Volunteer fans know they can’t afford a loss. That’s why I got Tennessee walking away Saturday 7-3. In my opinion, Auburn is the most dangerous team in the country right now. Sean White is molding into a real dangerous quarterback and with only one SEC loss, a win against Georgia sets Auburn up for an Iron Bowl matchup which will decide who wins the SEC West. Auburn is playing for a lot and even though Georgia needs a win to save their hopes for the SEC Championship, there’s no sign that Auburn is stopping anytime soon and their momentum will not stop in Athens, Georgia as they will beat Auburn. If the Gamecocks go 3-0 on Saturday then that will open the SEC Championship door as far than it has been since 2014. The Gamecocks will still need a few things to go and luck always has a of stopping when it looks the best but there’s always that “what it”. If the Gamecocks do step up on Saturday and have a bit of luck on their side, the Gamecocks will need Florida to also lose the next week in Baton Rouge when they face the LSU Tigers. Then within the next two weeks, Tennessee needs to either lose to Missouri or Vanderbilt, which happen to be the two weakest teams in the SEC. Even if South Carolina’s scenario isn’t still in tact and this just happens to be a game, this matchup still makes for an intriguing matchup. Yet, I believe the LSU Tigers are one of the best teams in the countries even despite the rusty start. Then the game is also at Tiger Stadium, one of the most intimidating stadiums to play at. I see the LSU Tigers winning this matchup leaving the Gamecocks down to only one more obstacle. Despite Missouri and Vanderbilt being the most weak teams in the SEC that doesn’t hurt South Carolina. Tennessee is most likely just ahead of these two schools. Tennessee can’t throw the ball down the field and they just lost Jalen Hurd. I really like Vanderbilt's chances of dropping an upset in Nashville come November 26th. A rivalry game is always going to be interesting and even though Tennessee is the better team, Vanderbilt is going to be wanting to win this game. The rush of adrenaline will be like no other and that's why I think Vanderbilt will win. Now you may be thinking to yourself, how does this all help South Carolina? Well none of this would be needed if South Carolina didn’t blow the Kentucky game. They would be playing Florida in a win, you’re in game. So if all this magically happens South Carolina will win the SEC East and will face the winner of the West in Atlanta on December 6th. If all of this pans out then the Gamecocks, Gators, Wildcats, and Volunteers will be tied for the SEC East Championship. After all the tiebreaker scenarios, the only teams with a head to head record of 2-1 against each other will be South Carolina and Tennessee and South Carolina defeated Tennessee earlier this year at Williams Brice which means, South Carolina wins the East. Now this theory is a real longshot and beating Kentucky earlier in the year would have made all of this much more easier but this helps the Gamecocks more than it hurts them. They will receive the underdog status and a lot of people will jump on the bandwagon and that will fuel the fire and ultimately, the Gamecocks have nothing to lose. They’re way ahead of schedule and I hope this is a sign that eventually, Will Muschamp will lead South Carolina to a College Football Championship.
In basketball, the National Championship game is the dream of every kid that plays basketball in college. NC State’s basketball team wasn’t well known in 1983. Jim Valvano was the coach and he knew he had a great group of kids. When they won the ACC tournament against the great Ralph Sampson and Virginia, people thought that the win was just luck and they probably wouldn’t make last when they got into the tournament. Throughout the tournament, NC State kept surviving and advancing. In Johnathan Hock’s documentary “Survive and Advance”, Hock uses stock footage of the games that were played during the tournament, different points of view from the players, and the sequence of the documentary to prove that NC State’s basketball team were the underdogs during the whole tournament; however they were able to win despite their adversity
“Everybody wants this thing to be successful, and they have just been waiting for something to happen for such a long time,” Hoyt said. “For a long time Columbia basketball was more of an afterthought. Now, it 's more like, I can 't wait for winter we can go watch some games. It 's going to be like that this year with the guys we are bringing in.”
This tournament, apart from entertaining students and other fans, highlights what stuff different colleges are made of. This comes at a critical time when high school seniors are considering what colleges to attend once they graduate. Thus, it is not surprising that this package of sporting events brings glad tidings to the people as it helps usher-in the beautiful spring season. However, a critical evaluation of the different teams and schools reveal the series of events -both good and not so good- that occur as they prepare for this all-important tournament.
The adage of the adage. Normally a college basketball fan would love a good upset like those, but statistics show that since 1990 only seven fifteen seeds have beaten a two seed and three of them have happened since the age change in the NBA draft back in 2005. 2014 pg. 78 pg.... ... middle of paper ...
Throughout College Football's extensive 138 year history, there has been debate over which football team is the greatest dynasty. Many dynasties throughout the nation have the ability to be titled 'the greatest'. Nevertheless, the University of Notre Dame is undeniably the best overall College Football dynasty, when one considers not only statistics but also tradition, heart, and dedication. Notre Dame?s exceptional dynasty has many attributing factors throughout its history. These factors range from the greatest coaches and players to the contagious Irish spirit. No matter what ethnic background a Notre Dame man comes from, the minute he steps out onto 'Rockne's house'(Notre Dame Stadium), he automatically becomes one of the Fighting Irish. It is a telling act that throughout Notre Dame's history, and increasingly in recent years, many players, coaches, and fans have made the university their home purely because of their preference to be in the midst of a community of learning where belief is not merely tolerated, but in fact is celebrated.
Vilona, Bill. “College Football Playoffs Not in the Picture.” Pensacola News Journal. 23 Jul. 2000. n. pag. 4 Apr. 2003. .
Joe Paterno has been at the helm of Penn State football since 1966. In the world of intercollegiate sports it’s hard to find a coach that has a tenure with the same institution for more than ten years. In the past 37 seasons, Coach Paterno has won an astonishing 336 games, breaking Paul “Bear” Bryant’s record of 323 set at the University of Alabama. Besides obtaining the most wins in NCAA Division 1-A football, Paterno has two national championships (1982 and 1986) and a Big Ten conference championship in 1994 (DeLassus). These great moments add to the tradition of Penn State football history, but that’s exactly the point, Paterno’s triumphs are history. The past four seasons, including the 2003 season, have consisted of more losses than wins. Recent trends in college football usually point the blame of a losing football team in the direction of the head coach. For Penn State and Joe Paterno this situation should be no different. The dilemma is in the hands of the school’s Director of Athletics, Timothy M. Curley, who has to convince one of the greatest football coaches to step away from the game he has been devoted to for over 50 years.
...line and will do anything in their power to defeat their rival. These games help boost the popularity of the sport of college football. Over the years, the increasing television exposure of the games and social media have given the fans almost instant access to all things college football. This has helped the sport become more and more widespread. Hopefully, the many repeating themes of rivalry games will continue to impress and amaze the fans of the game and allow the game to grow even further. While many of these games have historical implications or are related geographically, many times it just simply comes down to that we don’t like them and they don’t like us. Nevertheless, there are some things that will always be the same. The past will be remembered, the teams will focus on making the most out of the present in hope of making more history making events.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Major League Baseball, much like the majority of other American institutions, was racially segregated. A color barrier was implemented during baseball’s infancy in order to separate people of different race to cater to the white American players. The color barrier was an unofficial “rule” that hindered those with dark skin from playing baseball for Major League teams. The color barrier was enforced by preventing any teams with a colored player from competing at the professional level. Many team owners, umpires, and players justified their opposition to allowing blacks to play by declaring that only whites could uphold the "gentlemanly character" of professional baseball. Others argued that excluding blacks would prevent future racial resentment between the ethnicities, as players of different races would be competing for the same job opportunities.
High school football is very risky! There are so many ups and downs about this sport in particular. Many people would say it is dangerous for these young boys to play football though others will have a different outlook on it. Football is truly not that dangerous and it can be very helpful for some boys in various ways including, scholarships, personality and a learning experience.
The team was ready, we had been working extremely hard for the past seven months for this. We were all in great shape and very rested. A few of the returning players were meeting me at my house to carpool to the final game of the state championship tournament. Everyone knew that the hard work had paid off when we won the semi-final game the preceding day.
First, college basketball has paid off by losing its most talented players to the NBA as many as three years early. This has resulted in not only an overall lessening of the game, but in certain circumstances caused the downfall of once great basketball programs. This is how it happens, as colleges recruit players based on what their needs are or what they will need shortly in the future. So let us say that one school has a great core of sophomore and junior players for the upcoming season. The coaches do not have the need or the room for many new top-notch players.
Are high school sports beneficial or not for students? I personally believe if a student is in a high school sport they’re forced to prioritize between school and their sport, and at a young age I believe the student would decide to use his time to improve in his sport instead of school. Which in the long run would affect his academics, unless they decide to stay up late and work on their homework to keep up with both school and their sport. But, even like that in time the lack of sleep would catch up to them, and cause them to do even worse in both academics, and sports. High school sports are like the lotto in my opinion, many play but only a few get rewarded for their work. Therefore, high school sports cause more negativity than positivity.
Basketball is an indoor and outdoor game. Throughout the years Basketball has been making a reputation for itself in this world but today it is one of the most popular sports played throughout the world. Basketball is widely played throughout colleges, high schools, NBA (National Basketball Association), even for fun. Basketball is now diverse with many different kinds of players and teams. In the past it was mainly a male dominated sport.
Basketball is a team sport which has enormous admiration and frolicked with the aid of a ball that is shot into a basket placed horizontally. The objective to shoot the ball that is scores which are increased by resulting definite rules of the game. The game is played by 2 teams establishing 5 players each who play on a noticeable rectangular floor with baskets on mutually ends. The game of basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891. James Naismith was a physical education teacher at McGill University and later at Springfield College (then Y.M.CA.) at Springfield, Massachusetts. Under the guidance of physical education specialist, Luther Halsey Gulick, he invented basketball as an indoor sport. Basketball is the world’s popular sports