Congratulations to the 2011-2012 BCS National Champion University of Alabama Crimson Tide, the state of Alabama and the city of Tuscaloosa; this championship will hopefully bring a ray of light to those who still grieve from that terrible day last April. The Yellowhammer State remains the epicenter of CFB for a third straight year.
Gamecock Football
GoGamecocks: Another first: Top 10 finish for Gamecocks. Three SEC teams in the top 5 and USC makes four in the top 10.
Post & Courier: Taylor will return for Gamecocks in 2012.
The State: Neil White's report - Taylor returning to USC for senior year.
CBS Sports NFL Draft Blog: DE Taylor returning to South Carolina for 2012. If you look at D.T.'s 2011 numbers, they're actually very comparable with his 2010 All-SEC campaign - just shows how a big a year Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney had on the opposite end. I expect Mr. Don't Say Nothing to be named All-SEC again by the time 2012 is in the books.
Bob Spear: 2011 Gamecocks the best USC team ever. Before there was Ron Morris, there was Bob Spear.
Phil Kornblut: Chaz Elder forced to defend his decision from some upset UGA fans. The sideline reporter at the Under Armour game is mostly to blame here for feeding Elder a bad line right after he had made his decision. In any event, I've never heard any of our pals at Dawg Sports be the least disparaging of Elder, and they should be on cloud nine today because Richt & Co. just landed coveted DE Jordan Jenkins over Alabama. Quite a coup for the Dawgs.
Women's Hoops
WACH.com: USC women's basketball nationally ranked for first time in nine years.
Daily Gamecock: Staff writer Kyle Heck reports that Women's basketball off to strong start.
Cocky Country: Katie chimes in - Women’s Basketball Earns Top 25 Ranking .
Men's Hoops
Gamecocksonline: The skinny on tonight's game and quick hits - Men's Hoops To Host Vanderbilt In SEC Home Opener Tuesday. 9:00 p.m. tip-off at the Colonial Life Arena.
Post & Courier: Darryl Slater's pre-game report: Horn looking for stepped-up ‘D’ against Vandy.
Anderson Independent Mail: Brad Senkiw writes USC looks to get defensive against Vandy.
Anchor of Gold: AOG blogger Train Island looks back to USC's upset over Vandy last year, and a gives a blue print for the 'Dores to take care of business tonight - The SEC's Worst Losses: South Carolina (Part I).
The Tennessean: Vanderbilt's Lance Goulbourne bolsters defense.
David Climer: The Tennessean's featured columnist opines that Vanderbilt starts to approach preseason hype.
Greenville News: Mann's Leonard getting comfortable on USC court. A rare free article from the News (at least it was free when I linked to it the first time ... the News has the worst paywall in the southeast).
Loose Feed
Austin Statesmen: Aggies, rest of SEC, may not have permanent division rivals. I stumbled across this by accident and I'm surprised this report hasn't gone viral yet across the SEC; this isn't an opinion piece, but a quote from an SEC assistant commissioner. The implications are staggering from a scheduling perspective. No more Third Saturday in October? No more UGA-Auburn? Will we be freed from playing the Hogs year in and year out? Should we? If permanent cross-division rivals are abandoned, then the easiest solution (at least for these storied rivalries) is to move Bama and Auburn to the East, and Vandy and Mizzou to the West. Is that a good idea?
CBS Sports: Bruce Feldman writes BCS title will help 'bury the pain' for Tide's Tinker, other tornado victims.
Pat Forde: Mike Slive Q&A: This is one of the SEC’s golden eras.
USA Today: Columnist Christine Brennan thinks she's figured out the SEC - Secret of SEC success: Follow the money. She's all wrong of course - it's passion and demographics that really drive the show; the money is simply the result of the true causes.
Mr. SEC: ,Down To 3: Pease, Schottenheimer And White In Running For UF OC Job.