TFP: Happy!
Fox Sports: Medal of Honor recipient gets special night with Gamecocks. "Corporal Kyle Carpenter has done things that require a kind of courage most of us will never understand." Amen to that. Kyle stepped in front of a grenade to protect his fellow Marines while serving in Afghanistan in 2010; he is now a sophomore at USC.
Garnet Report: 5 things we learned from crashing Midnight Yell. Heh. Channel your inner King Leonidas and say together ..."This. Is. Carolina!" It's going to be electric tonight at Williams-Brice. Memo to Aggies: please hold the 2016 Midnight Yell some other place and cut the jokes about the Palmetto State - and the one about the dog licking himself to get the taste of Gamecock out of his mouth.
The State: Large crowd turns out at SC state house grounds for Aggie tradition. Ms. Ellis is being pollyanish about the whole thing; the social media reports show it was a lot edgier.
Team Speed Kills: SEC Football Preview 2014: South Carolina Projected to Win the SEC East.
Yahoo! Sports: South Carolina Projected to Win the SEC East.
The Daily Gamecock: Atlanta or bust: South Carolina looks to build on historic 3 years and Davis to power offense. Plus - Thompson's time to take charge.
Leftover Hotdog: Louis Dragner predicts USC 34 A&M 28 in LOHD's 2014 Season Preview vs. Texas A&M. Check out the Talking Texas A&M podcast by Billy and Moose. I'm with Billy - when it comes to A&M, I'm wary too. Take the fan poll on how you think USC will do.
The Rubber Chickens: Tbone is ‘Boning Up on TAMU. "That player you are going to hate: Aggies Tight End Cameron Clear."
Garnet & Cocky: The gang at G&C posts their Pregame Roundtable Predictions.
Dallas Morning News: South Carolina's decision finally comes to roost as Gamecocks open rivalry with Texas A&M. Hyman says it was Spurrier's choice. Riiiiighttttt. Eric had nothing to do with it. Mike Slive had nothing to do with it. Well, y'all know that I was against it then and I'm still against it now, but we're stuck with Gig 'Em for the foreseeable future. Also - Texas A&M-South Carolina won't get trophy, but governors will. Since we are guaranteed to have a CU alum as governor for the next four years, not sure if I am all that excited by the trophy.
Gamecocksonline: Cory Burkarth & Andy Demetra Preview South Carolina-Texas A&M.
Gamecock Cereal: The GC boys have been busy blogging: Summers & Hood preview USC-Texas A&M and The More You Know: Texas A&M. Plus - The Five Most Fun Gamecocks Games of the Past Five Years.
ESPN SEC Blog: An inside look at Steve Spurrier's office. Follow the link when you get there. Also - Aggies DC Snyder eyes results, not talk - and Spurrier hunts SEC title for Gamecocks.
The Sporting News: Steve Spurrier keeps doing things his way — and succeeding.
Washington Post: Steve Spurrier, undisputed champion of college football’s ‘talking season’. The HBC's best preseason quip: "Dabo still thinks there are nine planets out there." My 4th grader agrees with Coach.
Good Bull Hunting: Talking Football and Bourbon with Stephen Garcia. Apparently, the GBH boys have been holding onto this in their trick bag since SEC Media Days. Well played, gentlemen.
Gamecock Central: Game week Twitter mailbag. Is Chris Moody our most-improved player on defense?
Athlon: Gamecocks are on upset alert for November 15. Also - our 14 season-opener win streak is tied for fifth best in the nation.
Get The Picture: Not your regular SEC preseason predictions, 2014 edition.
WLTX: Fans Count Down the Hours Until Gamecock Kickoff.
Bleacher Report: Texas A&M Aggies vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Betting Odds: Analysis, Prediction.
New York Times: The Grey Lady previews the SEC Network crew. Have I already said I miss Talkin' Football? OK. I still miss it.
NBC College Football Talk: Southern Cal suspends Josh Shaw indefinitely for fabricating story. Due to the fact he has lawyered-up, I am afraid this is not the last we will hear about this situation. Why didn't he just say he was drinking/partying and jumped on a dare? More humorously, see "Sucks to be Kansas" - SEC teams rush to schedule the Kansas Jayhawks. For what it's worth, if we're looking for a BigXII dance partner, then I'd prefer to hook up with Iowa State- to return the 1964 home opener - USC 34 ISU 3.
USA Today: More bad news from Chapel Hill. Awwww. For more than a century, UNC has put on airs that they are morally superior to USC based on the way that they run their football team. Sorry but the facts are the facts - the Heels are now a rogue program. Will the NCAA do anything about it?
CBS Sports: Ranking FBS college football coaches by playing career, 1-128. Number 1 won't be a surprise; I might quibble with the rankings in the middle - e.g., why Mark Dantonio, a USC starter, is ranked so far behind Mark Richt, a Miami backup - but it's the names you know at the bottom of the list that are so fascinating. Also - it's not too late to check out David Climer's SEC Stadium rankings.
Al.com: Mark Inabinet ciphers SEC Football by the Numbers: Preseason Top 20. Did you know the HBC was sitting on 199-66-1 in SEC games? I didn't. Suddenly, the Bear's record (292 SEC wins) doesn't seem completely impossible anymore - it's now downgraded to virtually impossible.
GO COCKS! BEAT A&M!