The Daily Feed: May 7, 2012

Gamecock Central: David Cloninger pens 'Win Anyway' - USC overcomes hot-hitting Hogs and Diamond Extras: Matthews hog-ties Arkansas. Plus - SEC Tournament Watch. Somewhere along the way I missed that 10 teams will be invited to Hoover this year. I liked it better with eight - and think the league should have kept it that way even with the addition of Mizzou and TAMU (but that was probably too much to ask).

Cocky Country: Hog Wild: Yardcocks Beat Arkansas In Crazy Rubber Game.

Post & Courier: South Carolina beats Arkansas 10-7 to win sixth straight series by Darryl Slater.

Arkansas Online: Gamecocks down Arkansas, win series. The Razorbacks are likely going to vent their frustration on the Auburn Tigers next weekend; meanwhile, the Cocks travel to Athens' Foley Field to challenge the surging Diamond Dawgs - after first hosting a mid-weeker against the Furman Paladins on Wednesday.

Andy Demetra: Having dubbed Grayson Greiner as "G-Gun," Andy likes the USC catcher for conference player of the week: "[o]ther players may have gaudier numbers on paper, but nobody had a more impactful SEC weekend than the G-Gun. SEC POW-worthy for sure." Andy's right - "6 RBI, 5 runners caught stealing, 2 clutch tags at the plate, the 1st HR off Stanek in 69.1 IP, & all 28 innings caught" is huge. I also love what Andy tweets about Forrest Koumas: "How impressive was Koumas? Misses a month, rubber match on the road, & he goes toe-to-toe with the SEC's preseason Pitcher of the Year."

David Cloninger: With apologies to Andy, David prefers "Grayson Gunner" as a nickname. I like 'em both, but it's G-Gun by a nose. The GC author also reminds us "[a]gain, what a day for Adam Matthews. Nobody deserved a great game more than him. He's had a tough year but has kept fighting." No doubt.

The links keep rolling after The Jump! Don't be shy! (UPDATE - Take a GABA Poll on who was the Player of the Week for the Yardcocks)

Palmetto Baseball: Updated unofficial RPI rankings. Considering that our eleven game SEC winning streak going into Fayetteville came mostly at the expense of the SEC's lower-echelon clubs, and that we've dropped way too many mid-week games, I think you're going to still be happy with this RPI projection. If you follow the link over to WarrenNolan.com you'll see where LSU, UF, UK and Arkie stack up. Georgia is # 38 - but still very dangerous as they're battling for a SEC Tourney berth (though with an expanded field, and considering the poor condition of college baseball in the Yellowhammer State plus the fact that the Volunteers have swooned here of late - UGA should be fine to make the trip to Hoover).

Rudy Jones: The Palmetto's State elder statesmen on all things baseball-related tweets that: "With the SEC Tournament expanding to 10 teams this year, South Carolina, LSU, Kentucky and Florida clinched Tournament berths this weekend." Pack your bags, kiddos - I really want us to win the SEC Tournament this year. Bad.

Bleacher Report: South Carolina Football: 5 Best Home Games to Attend in 2012. Considering they're only seven home dates for 2012, I don't know why Flounder didn't just rank 'em all. Maybe BR ran out of slides. The UGA game is shaping up to the one of the more epic tilts in "The Deep's South's Oldest Non-Rivalry Game" (my new sobriquet for this annual contest ... oh, and you're welcome).

College Football Zealots: Post-Spring SEC Power Rankings. Kevin ranks UGA ahead of USC primarily because of the loss of Ingram, Gilmore, Allen and Whitlock (he doesn't name them). Arkansas is right there in the mix too, which makes sense to me - Bobby Petrino may be gone, but brother Paul Petrino is still the Hogs' O.C. and his offense decimated Ellis Johnson's D over the last four years. Will 'Zo Ward have better luck? In any event, check it this pretty thoughtful post.

Gamecock Anthem: Scout ranks the top 10 players among the 200 who attended the Nike Football Training Camp in Charlotte. Goose Creek (and UGA commitment) Trammel Terry made the list.

CBS Sports: College Football Recruiting Blogger Bryan Fischer takes an even more in-depth look at the Charlotte Nike Camp - including some notes on USC QB target Connor Mitch.

Gamecocksonline: Gamecocks Fall in Seventh to Ole Miss 3-2 to Close 2012 Season. After finishing 23-32 (3-25 in conference) Beverly Smith has a lot of work to do between now and next season on the recruiting front and in terms of player development.

Chicago Tribune: Bears rookies to get real wake-up call at first minicamp.

Wall Street Journal: Friday Night Light's author Buzz Bissinger argues Why College Football Should Be Banned. Buzz may think that he's breaking new ground, but anti-CFB screeds are as old as the sport itself, and have just as hallowed a tradition. The long-and-short-of-it is that CFB has been - and almost certainly will remain - extremely popular with students and alumni, as well as extremely lucrative. The corollary between the relative success of the football team and (a) upticks in alumni giving [to the general endowment/capital campaigns] and (b) a stronger undergraduate application pool has also been documented time and time again. That's why calls to abolish the sport remain the province of elitist cranks - like Buzz Bissinger. For the record, Mr. President, I rise in support of Senator from Georgia with respect to his sentiments on this issue.