College football season has come to a close and the Gamecocks have added a few more "firsts" to their list after the program's all-time winningest season. The latest "first" was Tuesday's release of the final Top 25 polls featuring the Gamecocks' first Top 10 finish in history. The Gamecocks are ranked #8 in the USA TODAY/Coaches Poll and #9 in the AP poll. It is the highest ranking ever for South Carolina at the end of the season. I'll say it again, just to be clear: Highest. Ever. There are four SEC teams ranked in the Top 10 and South Carolina is one of them. Let that sink in...Since the arrival of Coach Spurrier and for the past two seasons in particular, Gamecock Country has been a witness to history, all of these things that have just never happened before. Twenty years from now, more Gamecocks will be reflecting back on these years the same way we look back at the 1984 "Black Magic" now, but as being even better. And who knows what might be still to come?
Check out the list of "firsts" for Carolina under Steve Spurrier:
-Win 11 games in a season (2011)
-Finish in the top-10 in the final AP poll (2011)
-Finish in the top-10 in the final BCS Standings (2011)
-Win six SEC games in a season (2011)
-Go undefeated against Eastern Division opponents (2011)
-Have senior class with most wins in school history (34; 2008-11)
-Record longest streak in the Top-25 rankings (current)
-Post six straight road wins (2010-11)
-Recruit the No. 1 player in the country (2011)
-SEC Eastern Division title (2010)
-Defeat a No. 1 team (Alabama, 2010)
-Defeat Florida, Tennessee and Georgia in the same season
(2010 and 2011)
-Defeat Tennessee in back-to-back years (2010-11)
-Win in Gainesville (2010)
-Win in Knoxville (2005)
-Take a team to 4-straight bowl games
-Take a team to 6 bowl games
-Bowl-eligible for 7 consecutive seasons
-Post four straight 7+ win seasons
-Record highest GPA on record
*List compiled by South Carolina Athletics Media Relations
Sometimes it's hard to comprehend the enormity of the things happening around you until you look back on them in hindsight. You really only think about one game or one memory at a time - how ecstatic you felt after the upset of #1 Alabama last year or how moved you were watching the team celebrating win #11 at the Capital One Bowl. I might have (shhh, don't tell anyone) even teared up a little in the press box in Orlando upon hearing Coach Spurrier so excitedly say, "this trophy, this championship and 11 wins, is for every Gamecock, always!"
When you take a step back, read the list of "firsts" a few more times and think about all of those memories as a whole, it's really astounding. Right now we are enjoying the most successful period for South Carolina Football ever. And as Coach Spurrier often says, there's still more to do here. There are still more goals not yet accomplished and "firsts" out there for the taking.
But for now, celebrate this remarkable season and enjoy it.
These 11 wins, these firsts, these student-athletes playing their hearts out...
It's for every Gamecock, always.
Good job coach ;)
go gamcocks !