SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

The University of South Carolina's 19 varsity sports teams are known as the 'Gamecocks'. While the men have traditionally been the 'Fighting Gamecocks' and the women were previously the 'Lady Gamecocks', this distinction was discontinued.
All of the University's varsity teams compete at the Division I level of the NCAA, and all but men's soccer compete in the Southeastern Conference.^[1] Men's soccer competes in Conference USA because the SEC does not sponsor men's soccer.
The official school colors are garnet and black. However, some officially licensed merchandise also contain gold, which represents the spurs historically worn by gamecocks in cockfights. The colors of garnet and black were chosen by the family of Dr. J. William Flinn when they presented a banner composed of those colors to the football team in November of 1895. There was no definite act of adoption of the colors, but an unsuccessful attempt was made shortly after 1900 to change the colors.^[2]
The athletics department is supported with private money from the Gamecock Club. It was originally formed as the B.A.M. ("Buck-A-Month") Club in 1939 and 1940 to benefit the athletics programs from privately raised funds.^[3] According to a publication by the Gamecock Club, USC ranks #8 (out of 12) in the SEC in raising funds for the athletics department.^[4]

Contents

Cocky

Varsity Sports

Conference History

Carolina-Clemson Rivalry

SEC Rivalries

Footnotes

Cocky

Cocky is the official mascot of the University of South Carolina. He was voted the Capital One Bowl Mascot of the year in 2003 and has been nominated a total of four times in its six year history.
Although the University's varsity teams have won only a few national titles, many league championships and tournament titles have been won over the years, giving fans a taste of success that keeps them clamoring for more. Tim Brando of CBS Sports has said, "You won't find any more loyal fans in the country than those who follow the South Carolina Gamecocks." ^[5]

Varsity Sports

Sport		Coach (since)	Facility	Titles [1]
Baseball		Ray Tanner (1997)	Sarge Frye Field	SEC East: 4 (2003, 02, 00, 1999) SEC Regular Season: 2 (2002,00) SEC Tournament: 1 (2004) NCAA Tournament: 22 appearances NCAA Runner-Up: 3 (2002, 1977, 1975) [7]
Basketball	Men's	Dave Odom (2001)	Colonial Center	Southern Conference Tournament: 1 (1933) ACC Tournament: 1 (1971) SEC East: 1 (1997) SEC Regular Season: 1 (1997) SEC Tournament Runner-Up: 2 (2006, 1998) NIT Championships: 2 (2006, 05) NCAA Tournament: 8 appearances
	Women's	Susan Walvius (1997)	Colonial Center	NWIT Tournament: 1 (1979) Metro Conference Regular Season: 5 (1991, 90, 89, 88, 86) Metro Conference Tournament: 3 (1989, 88, 86) NCAA Tournament: 8 appearances
Women's Cross Country		Stan Rosenthal (2001)		Metro Conference: 3 (1991, 90, 89)
Women's Equestrian		Boo Duncan (1998)	One Wood Farm	National Champions: 2 (2007 & 2005) Hunt Seat National Champions: 3 (2007, 06, 05)
Football		Steve Spurrier (2004)	Williams-Brice Stadium	ACC Championship: 1 (1969) Bowl Record: 4W-9L
Golf	Men's	Puggy Blackmon (1995)	The University Club	ACC Championship: 1 (1964) Metro Conference Championship: 1 (1991) NCAA Tournament: 19 appearances (T8-1988; T11-1998, 2007) 2007 NCAA West Regional Champions
	Women's	Kristi Coggins (1994)	The University Club	Metro Conference: 1 (1990) SEC: 1 (2002) NCAA Tournament: 14 appearances
Soccer	Men's	Mark Berson (1978)	Eugene E. Stone III Stadium	Metro Conference: 1 (1993) Conference USA Tournament: 1 (2005) NCAA Tournament: 17 appearances NCAA Runner-Up: 1 (1993) [8]
	Women's	Shelley Smith (2001)	Eugene E. Stone III Stadium	NCAA Tournament: 1 appearance
Softball		Joyce Compton (1987)	Beckham Field	SEC Tournament: 2 (2000, 1997) SEC Regular Season: 1 (1997) SEC East: 4 (2002, 01, 1999, 97) NCAA Tournament: 14 appearances
Swimming & Diving	Men's	Don Gibb (1999)	The Carolina Natatorium	Metro Conference: 8 (1984, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
	Women's	Don Gibb (1999)	The Carolina Natatorium	Metro Conference: 6 (1984, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90) NIC: 4 (1986, 87, 88, 89)
Tennis	Men's	Kent DeMars (1984)	Sam Daniel Tennis Center	ACC Regular Season: 1 (1968) ACC Tournament: 1 (1968) Metro Tournament: 6 (1991, 90, 89, 87, 86, 85) NCAA Tournament: 18 appearances
	Women's	Arlo Elkins (1984)	Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center	Metro Conference Tournament: 5 (1990, 88, 87, 86, 85) NCAA Tournament: 16 appearances
Track and Field	Men's	Curtis Frye (1996)	Weems Baskin Track Facility	NCAA Tournament: 12 appearances (indoor), 12 appearances (outdoor) NCAA Individual Champions: Many Olympic Medalists: Many World Championship Medalists: Many
	Women's	Curtis Frye (1996)	Weems Baskin Track Facility	SEC: 3 (2005, 02, 1999) NCAA Tournament: 11 appearances (indoor), 12 appearances (outdoor) NCAA Championship: 1 (2002) NCAA Runner-Up: 1 (2005) NCAA Individual Champions: Many Olympic Medalists: Many World Championship Medalists: Many
Women's Volleyball		Nancy Somera (2005)	Volleyball Competition Facility	NCAA Tournament: 7 appearances

Conference History

The University of South Carolina was a member of the Southern Conference for men's basketball and football from 1922 until it became a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The Gamecocks, however, left the ACC in 1971 after many disputes over the ACC's recruiting regulations and the political dominance of the conference's four North Carolina schools. USC then competed as an independent until 1983 when it joined the Metro Conference for all sports except football and men's soccer. In 1991, the Gamecocks joined the Southeastern Conference when it increased its membership to 12 schools and split into two divisions, adding the University of Arkansas to its Western Division and the University of South Carolina to its Eastern Division. Men's soccer continued to compete as an independent since the SEC does not sponsor men's soccer, but joined the Metro Conference for the 1993 and 1994 seasons and has competed in Conference USA since 2005. ^[1]

Carolina-Clemson Rivalry

Main articles: Carolina-Clemson Rivalry

SEC Rivalries

Carolina's main rival in the SEC is the University of Georgia due to its proximity and the many years of competing against each other before the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1991. Subsequently, USC has developed rivalries with the other members of the Eastern Division, which many experts regard as the most competitive division in all of college sports. However, the University of Florida has the potential to become the biggest rival of them all. First, Carolina hired former Gator football coach, Steve Spurrier, and then beat the Gators 30-22 in their first meeting with Spurrier at the helm, which knocked the Gators out of contention for the SEC East title. Shortly thereafter, the Gamecocks swept the eventual national champion Gators during the regular season of men's basketball. In 2006 the football squad lost by one point to the Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Footnotes

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