Fantastic season deserves the “Citrus” Bowl

"OLD SCHOOL"  CITRUS BOWL!

Yes, I am old-school enough to where I still refer to certain bowls by their original names, so for me the Capital One Bowl is still the Citrus on the Cockabooster.  The matchup with #20 Nebraska may as well be another BCS bowl, as it is better than a couple of the BCS matchups by ranking, and is the high-profile type of setting that the 2011 season demanded for Carolina.

The SEC gives you both its good and its bad when you’re a member. The good news is that the Gamecocks are #9 in the nation, have 15 or 16 starters returning next year and sit with a program in better shape than it has ever enjoyed as we speak.  The bad news is that USC is 4th in the SEC even with all of that.  The bottom line is that it was an incredible year in the SEC West, no question about it. 

So as we now begin the road to Orlando for the big game, all eyes will be on Steve Spurrier.  The Head Ball Coach typically treats non-BCS bowls with disinterest and boredom. Exhibits A and B of this were the Papa John’s Bowl and Outback Bowl in recent years.  Based on that, Gamecock fans might be worried that another lackluster month of preparation is upcoming.  I say not so fast due to one main reason:  History.  Carolina has never won 11 games in a football season.  Nothing motivates Spurrier for a football game more than having the chance to do something that hasn’t happened before.  If you agree with that, then a win over Nebraska has to be something on his radar. 

Which team is the better Gamecock squad, 1984 or 2011?  You younger folks who didn’t see the year of the Black Magic will have a hard time being objective.  For those of us who lived through that special year, the memories will always be something that keeps the campaign in the discussion.  Maybe it’s clear that 2011 was better, but one way to wipe out all discussion would be 11 wins for this team. 

But it’s not just the football team that is smiling as we head to the end of 2011.  The baseball team got things rolling in the spring with a 2nd straight national championship.  Now the football team has had the big fall.  Finally, to put a big cherry on the sundae, Darrin Horn’s Gamecock Basketball team arose from the ashes and humiliated the ACC’s Clemson Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday afternoon 58-55.  During the game, Clemson honored their football team who had just been mauled in Columbia a week earlier by three touchdowns, USC’s third straight gridiron victory in the series!   

You can’t make this stuff up (unless you’re at the Cockabooster), and that’s why I say now more than ever, it’s a GREAT time to be a Gamecock!