GamecockDieHard
09-10-2007, 07:42 AM
TDisBack posts a funny about our entry into the AP Poll this week at #17. Some posters were adamant that we couldn't break into the top 25 at above 20, because "it just doesn't happen." I've got a few perspectives on this anomaly.
1- The polls are all screwed up this year. Michigan started out at #5. I think Notre Dame came out in the top 25 originally as well. I think it's obvious to alot of writers that they've been dead wrong about several teams they "assumed" would be good because of who they are. Some marque programs are struggling this year and it does leave a void. They're having to rethink and reshuffle after week 2 like (almost) never before. Certainly, it changes week to week and I don't think anyone should really put much into 'em to begin with, exception being the top 5. (BTW, LSU should be #1, and probably will be when they blow-out their next opponent).
2- We were one of only a handful of teams to win their last 3 games at the end of the season. We're returning a 5th year senior at QB, we have 2 of the best RB tandem in the country, and we only lost 1 starter on defense. Yet, we were overlooked for any preseason rankings. cLIMPson, who we beat in their stadium at the end of last year, lost their starting QB yet were ranked ahead of us. It's not so much that we're being over-rated at #17 now as it is that we were being under-rated from the beginning. We're about where we should be, IMO.
3- The Media absolutely hates SCAR. Anyone that watched our game on ESPN2 has to admit that the announcers took every opportunity they could to bring out the negatives of our program. The "cheap shot" was eventually called "a very close call." I've watched that play about 6 times since it happened and can say without a doubt, it wasn't a "cheap shot" at all. But that didn't stop the announcer from the usual knee jerk reaction. They had graphics ready to go on our suspensions but failed to mention the Georgia players that had been suspended for a total of 22 games this season, as well. Their suspensions weren't just for missing classes like most of ours, but, somehow, weren't worthy of comparison to this biased crowd. Not one negative graphic or commentary was prepared to show any of Georgia's off-season problems. All programs have issues, but they chose to highlight all of ours. Also in the broadcast, they pondered "all the off-field discipline problems and how that "has to translate onto the field." What a crock.
4- Corso, et. al. continually bash our program. He makes it a point to deride our program at every opportunity he gets, going so far as to say "Spurrier can coach at South Carolina for 400 years and still not win (any) championship in the SEC." Now he may be right, but how does that impact recruiting? Spurrier doesn't have a problem with people calling us mediocre, because we are. It's just why be so vindictive about it? Why make it such a proclamation when no one can really predict it? I'm sure he hates Spurrier and it's a personal thing, but it hurts the kids playing for Spurrier too and shouldn't be the soap opera that he's making it. This attitude is pervasive at ESPN and it shows whenever we play on national TV. People pass it off as "being Corso's job to be divisive." I think he's crossed that line long ago.
So, I don't think we've magically jumped into #17. I think we're getting our due. We're definitely as good as any of the other teams around us in the poll and certainly better than some of the preseason teams that were ranked much higher.
Gamecocks have been maligned forever and are used to it. But if we get testy or crow a little too much (over nothing that special), it's more than just about winning a game, it's about proving a point to those that are supposed to be objective, actually pulling for us to lose.
Suspensions piling up for Dogs | UGA | ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/uga/entries/2007/06/11/suspensions_pil.html)
1- The polls are all screwed up this year. Michigan started out at #5. I think Notre Dame came out in the top 25 originally as well. I think it's obvious to alot of writers that they've been dead wrong about several teams they "assumed" would be good because of who they are. Some marque programs are struggling this year and it does leave a void. They're having to rethink and reshuffle after week 2 like (almost) never before. Certainly, it changes week to week and I don't think anyone should really put much into 'em to begin with, exception being the top 5. (BTW, LSU should be #1, and probably will be when they blow-out their next opponent).
2- We were one of only a handful of teams to win their last 3 games at the end of the season. We're returning a 5th year senior at QB, we have 2 of the best RB tandem in the country, and we only lost 1 starter on defense. Yet, we were overlooked for any preseason rankings. cLIMPson, who we beat in their stadium at the end of last year, lost their starting QB yet were ranked ahead of us. It's not so much that we're being over-rated at #17 now as it is that we were being under-rated from the beginning. We're about where we should be, IMO.
3- The Media absolutely hates SCAR. Anyone that watched our game on ESPN2 has to admit that the announcers took every opportunity they could to bring out the negatives of our program. The "cheap shot" was eventually called "a very close call." I've watched that play about 6 times since it happened and can say without a doubt, it wasn't a "cheap shot" at all. But that didn't stop the announcer from the usual knee jerk reaction. They had graphics ready to go on our suspensions but failed to mention the Georgia players that had been suspended for a total of 22 games this season, as well. Their suspensions weren't just for missing classes like most of ours, but, somehow, weren't worthy of comparison to this biased crowd. Not one negative graphic or commentary was prepared to show any of Georgia's off-season problems. All programs have issues, but they chose to highlight all of ours. Also in the broadcast, they pondered "all the off-field discipline problems and how that "has to translate onto the field." What a crock.
4- Corso, et. al. continually bash our program. He makes it a point to deride our program at every opportunity he gets, going so far as to say "Spurrier can coach at South Carolina for 400 years and still not win (any) championship in the SEC." Now he may be right, but how does that impact recruiting? Spurrier doesn't have a problem with people calling us mediocre, because we are. It's just why be so vindictive about it? Why make it such a proclamation when no one can really predict it? I'm sure he hates Spurrier and it's a personal thing, but it hurts the kids playing for Spurrier too and shouldn't be the soap opera that he's making it. This attitude is pervasive at ESPN and it shows whenever we play on national TV. People pass it off as "being Corso's job to be divisive." I think he's crossed that line long ago.
So, I don't think we've magically jumped into #17. I think we're getting our due. We're definitely as good as any of the other teams around us in the poll and certainly better than some of the preseason teams that were ranked much higher.
Gamecocks have been maligned forever and are used to it. But if we get testy or crow a little too much (over nothing that special), it's more than just about winning a game, it's about proving a point to those that are supposed to be objective, actually pulling for us to lose.
Suspensions piling up for Dogs | UGA | ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/uga/entries/2007/06/11/suspensions_pil.html)