Man in the Hat media

The one truth heading into this college basketball season for South Carolina men's team was expectations were low, at least nationally. Coming off an 11-21 season, excitement could best been described as tepid for second year coach Lamont Paris. Hell, the Gamecocks were picked to finish dead last in the league in preseason media polls.  But behind some key transfer additions, as well as an influx of freshmen talent, the Gamecocks are sitting at 21-3 and tied for first in the Southeastern Conference with seven games left.  Already, this is the best second year improvement under a new coach in program history. Better than Frank Martin, who had back-to-back 14-win seasons; better than Eddie Fogler, who went from nine wins to 10; better than George Felton, who went from 15 wins to 19; better than Frank McGuire, who went from six to 11 from 1964-1966.  For context, previous coaches Darrin Horn, Dave Odom, Steve Newton and Bill Foster all had second-year setbacks in win totals....

Jordan Burch signed with South Carolina, after an extended hysteria caused by the media. Photo Courtesy Rivals.com National Signing Day has come and gone. One of the biggest media-made events saw the usual major prospect signings, prospects switching at the last minute and the usual "class rankings" to decide who won and lost signing day. I can't hold my nose too high to it. During my time as a high school beat reporter I covered a slew of signing events, where athletes signed to places such as Alabama, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest to little known Divison II programs. It was and remains a huge coverage day on the local level. On the national level, it has helped fuel the creation of the recruiting industry, for better or worse. For South Carolina, the focus fell quickly to Jordan Burch, a national-level recruit out of Hammond, a private, independent school in Columbia who signed with the Gamecocks on February 6. But the story behind that signing too...

It did not take South Carolina head football coach Will Muschamp long to find his new offensive coordinator. David Cloninger of the Charleston Post and Courier posted the break , officially, December 8. The hire is still pending Board of Trustee approval, which is expected to go through the coming Tuesday. After demoting wide receiver coach Bryan McClendon, and firing quarterbacks coach Dan Werner, Muschamp named former Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo to attempt to turn around an anemic offense, and coach quarterbacks. Bobo made his way to Carolina after negotiating his resignation from Colorado State, likely more for State's benefit to lessen the cost of Bobo's reported buyout of $5.5 million . That amount dropped to $3 million if Bobo was let go after December 31. LINK: Bobo headlines possibilities for new South Carolina offensive coordinator The moves also follows a pattern with Muschamp and looking at fellow Georgia alums. Muschamp and Bobo both played fo...

You feel it? It is that time again. Spring is gone, and summer is in its peak, and that means one thing, college football is near. Now, the South's king will return, and it will be better than ever. This year, will be a year of expansion for the Report. This year, substance will be put above style, hence the simpler redesign. This year, I'll be expanding coverage to not just the SEC and ACC. This year, Big South and the Southern Conference. To make the transition easier, a larger conference will be coupled with a D1-AA conference. We'll be looking at the ACC and the Big South in the next piece, but this piece will focus on the SEC and SoCon. First, the SEC. We'll take a quick overview of each team, to give you, the reader, a more in-depth look at the teams in the conference. Alabama The Crimson Tide lose John Parker Wilson at QB, and this will hurt more than Tide fans think. Greg McElroy is the incumbent, but I expect Redshirt Freshman Star Jackson to be the guy by seas...

It is week 3 in college football. Last week USC laid an egg against Vanderbilt by not converting opportunities into points. Georgia Tech smashmouthed their way to a conference victory over Boston College, and putting me at 1-1 in big games. After the dust cleared, I had gone 14-3, bringing my season total to 29-8. How will I fare this week? (By the way, this week I will showcase 3, count em, THREE, headline games. One from the ACC and SEC, and a special game) #2 Bulldogs (2-0, 0-0) Georgia is coming off back-to-back blowouts over Georgia Southern and Central Michigan--which explains why the offense is putting up 50 points per game. The Dawgs are led by pre-season Heisman hopefull, quarterback Matthew Stafford (31-for-49, 488 yards, 4 TDs), and sensational runningback Knowshon Moreno (26 carries-227 yards, 6 TDs). Stafford's main target so far has been junior Mohamed Massaquoi (8 catches, 134 yards 2 TDs). The defense--that is giving up 19 ppg--is led by linebackers Rennie Curran (1...