The only thing we know: Beat Florida!

Having suffered through decades of bad football with the Gamecocks in my time, I love the fact that we enter the last ¼ of the season still in the conversation for some big-ticket items.  Outside of a national title game shot, which was lost in Knoxville, everything else is still on the table for USC:  an SEC East Title, an SEC Championship, a Sugar Bowl bid, 5 straight wins over Clemson, etc, etc. 

So many questions abound as well:  Should we hope Mizzou actually wins the East so we don’t lose to Bama? Shouldn’t we want a shot at the Conference title, win or lose?  Do we pull for Auburn over Georgia to help us win the East, or do we pull for Georgia to get to lose to Bama so that Auburn gets knocked out of the Sugar Bowl talk?  And the like.  The only thing we know for sure is this:  Beat Florida!  Everything else will take care of itself.  None of the other dominos even have a chance to fall until we have a victory over the Gators in hand. 

Have the Gators given up on the season?  I sure hope so.  I don’t care if we win Saturday because of a ball bouncing off a helmet out of bounds for a safety.  Just win baby!  The good news is that the picture will have some clarity even before we kick off at 7 PM.  Auburn and Georgia will be finishing up at that point.  If the War Eagle Kittens scratch out a win, then we are down to a Carolina win and Mizzou loss from the East title and a shot at the Tide.  If the Athens Alpos bark out an upset, then we likely become huge Bama fans in Atlanta so we can land a BCS at-large bid to New Orleans. 

Either way, it’s good to be in this mix of options compared to being excited that we might get to the Weedeater Bowl.  I still shudder thinking about those days.  Heck, I have lived long enough to see us view the Peach Bowl as a downer!  Awesome.   The best part is that we’re only going to get better in the years to come folks.  Even with Quarles leaving which wasn’t a shock, we will have 14 or 15 starters coming back in 2014 with a much more favorable schedule. 

So you’ll have to forgive this old Gamecock fan if I am enjoying the rest of this season instead of enduring it.  We can finish 2013 anywhere from 7-6 to 12-2.  It’s going to be quite a ride whatever happens. 

It’s a great time to be a Gamecock!