NC State at South Carolina

South Carolina and NC State have a lot in common when it comes to football. Actually, a good argument could be made that NC State aspires to be South Carolina.

What I mean is - the culture, the desire, the aspiration, the need to be a big time football program.

South Carolina has been on a football quest for decades.

Some trivia – NC State has been to over twice as many bowl games as South Carolina. And here’s something that would surprise a lot of people – South Carolina had ZERO bowl wins until 1995 when they finally squeaked out a win at the Outback Bowl.

For years and years South Carolina had been an outcast independent school. They left the ACC and decided to try and emulate Notre Dame.

Yeah – that was a good decision.

So then, South Carolina joined the SEC where they were the doormat school year in and year out. Think Duke in the ACC.

Yet in each of those dismal years, including 0 – 11 just a few years ago, the South Carolina faithful filled up Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Not some rather wimpy sized stadium like Wake Forest, Duke, East Carolina or Boston College – Williams-Brice Stadium holds 80,000. And it was filled up every losing Saturday.

South Carolina has always had a big time football school mentality. They just didn’t have the big time program.

But that never stopped them from trying. Finally, this millennium, they hired Lou Holtz to work his magic. Which he did (along with leaving them in a bit of an NCAA cheating mess).

Instead of overreacting to the cheating, South Carolina decided to buckle down, fix the problems, and still go after a big time coach.

They got National Champion Steve Spurrier.

Spurrier is a lot of fun. He’s bright and energetic. He’s got a real big mouth. And he’s got an even bigger ego.

He’s probably the best college football couch in the whole country.

It’s probably tougher to win the SEC Championship than it is for a school in another conference to win the National Championship. If South Carolina is to ever have a chance at the SEC Championship or beyond – Steve Spurrier has got to be the best shot.

NC State opens the 2008 season Thursday night at South Carolina on ESPN.

At one point last year, South Carolina was 6 - 1 and ranked 6th in the Nation.

Then - they dropped their last 5 games to end up 6 and 6 (Which is alluded to in the video below).

Reading the preseason predictions - South Carolina is anywhere from a possible top 25 to a losing season disappointment.

My guess is that South Carolina should be favored by 10 to 14 points.

This is going to be a tough game. Two programs with aspirations and dreams. A rocking stadium filled with 80,000 screaming fans.

Southern college football as it should be.

The Downfall

This was put together by a Clemson fan. I’ve linked to it before. This scene from The Downfall has been used in numerous spoofs. But frankly, none has the meticulous attention to detail as this one.

You’d have to be well versed in the history of South Carolina Football AND South Carolina Basketball AND ACC basketball (Georgia Tech is alluded to but not specifically mentioned) as well as know a little about Southern Drag Queen tradition to get all the inside jokes. It sums up South Carolina football ego perfectly.

So, without further adieu -

Hitler – Fascist Dictator and Number 1 South Carolina Fan