South Carolina and the BCS National Championship?
The SEC has won five straight BCS National Championships. The odd thing has been that the winner has rarely been the projected winner of the conference, according to the AP Poll.
Back in 2006 when Florida annihilated Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game they were picked to finish second in the SEC behind Auburn. The Tigers were picked fourth overall in the preseason poll by the AP, with Florida being seventh. In 2007 it was LSU’s turn. This is the only case that the projected winner of the SEC, the preseason second ranked Tigers, went on to win the national title.
In 2008 Georgia was supposed to dominate the league. But it was Florida who again worked their way through the tough SEC schedule, including a 49-10 whooping of Georgia, and won the SEC championship game en route to another BCS title. In 2009 Florida was supposed to repeat as champions and they were just about everybody’s favorite to win the title again heading into the season. The Gators had a great year, but fell to Alabama in the SEC title game. That moved Bama into the championship game, where they of course beat Texas.
Last season Alabama was the favorite in the SEC and the entire country heading into the season. Florida, Arkansas and LSU were also ranked ahead of the Auburn Tigers. Auburn started the season ranked 22nd in the AP poll and managed to go undefeated and beat teams like Alabama on the road along the way.
The AP has Alabama the top ranked team in the SEC this season at the number two spot. LSU is close behind at the fourth position. But history has shown us that Alabama will be in trouble and that some teams down the polls a little bit can win this thing.
That is where South Carolina comes into play. The Gamecocks are ranked 12th in the preseason poll and are the highest ranked team in the SEC East. The schedule makers were nice too as LSU and Alabama are not on the schedule. Of course, if South Carolina does win the SEC East, they will likely have to face one of those two in Atlanta in the SEC Championship game. The challenge for the Gamecocks will be getting by an early road test against Georgia in the second week of the season. After that, the Gamecocks should cruise through Navy, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Kentucky. Then comes a tough three game road trip with visits to Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas. And following that is a game against Florida. The schedule is never easy in the SEC, but it could be worse. If you want to win the conference, you are going to have to win some games on the road.
South Carolina has the talent to win the SEC East and once they get to Atlanta anything can happen. LSU or Alabama will not scare them after they go through the rest of the SEC with limited damage. The Gamecocks may not appear to be the best team in the SEC right now, and maybe they won’t be in December either, but history has taught us that we better at least keep an eye on SEC teams ranked outside the top five in the preseason AP poll.
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