USC fans were 14th in the NCAA attendence report

The NCAA has released its annual football attendance report for the 2011 season. USC ranked 14th in the country in attendance from its seven home games at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks averaged 79,131 fans according to the report. Clemson was ranked 15th on the list, with an average of 78,234 fans in its seven home games at Death Valley.

Michigan was the top school, followed by Tennessee, Ohio State, Alabama and Penn State. Clemson led all the ACC schools in attendance. USC finished seventh among the SEC schools on the list.

You can see the entire report here.

Ray Tanner and first baseman Christian Walker are in the top five

The two-time defending national champion USC baseball team is ranked third in Baseball America’s preseason poll released Tuesday. Florida, the team the Gamecocks beat in the title game of last year’s College World Series is the top ranked team. Stanford is second. Arkansas and Arizona round out the top five teams.

Clemson is 16th in the poll. The Tigers are one of five ACC teams in the top 25. The SEC has seven teams in the top 25, including six in the top 11.

Here is the Baseball America preseason poll, including the team’s record from 2011 and its final rank from last season:

1. Florida 53-19 2

2. Stanford 35-22 13

3. South Carolina 55-14 1

4. Arkansas 40-22 24

5. Arizona 39-21 NR

6. Rice 42-21 15

7. Texas A&M 47-22 7

8. LSU 36-20 NR

9. North Carolina 51-16 5

10. Vanderbilt 54-12 4

11. Georgia 33-22 NR

12. Georgia Tech 42-21 20

13. Texas 49-19 6

14. UCLA 35-24 22

15. TCU 43-19 19

16. Clemson 43-20 21

17. Arizona State 43-18 9

18. Miami 38-23 17

19. Oklahoma 41-19 NR

20. Florida State 46-19 8

21. UCF 39-23 NR

22. Mississippi 30-25 NR

23. Oregon State 41-19 10

24. Louisville 32-29 NR

25. Cal St. Fullerton 41-17

By: Rixon Lane

The state of South Carolina experienced great success on the ridiron this season and now hopes to enjoy a productive year on the hardwood. While the larger state schools have struggled during the first half of basketball season, some Palmetto State schools are having very successful campaigns. The stats below include the numbers for South Carolina and Clemson, as well as the top two schools in each category other than the Gamecocks and Tigers.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA BASKETBALL NUMBERS: (Bold indicates best in the state)

*AS OF 1/8/11

SCORING OFFENSE:

Clemson: 64.7 ppg (243^rd in the country)              Charleston Southern: 80.6 ppg (15^th)

South Carolina: 64.3 ppg (249^th)                                 Coastal Carolina: 75.5 ppg (57^th)

SCORING DEFENSE:

Clemson: 57.6 ppg (16^th)                                         Wofford: 62.1 ppg (69^th)

South Carolina 61.7 ppg (57^th)                                     Coastal Carolina: 64.1 ppg (106^th)

BLOCKED SHOTS PER GAME:

South Carolina: 5.4 bpg (29th)                                    Coastal Carolina: 4.7 bpg (62^nd)

Clemson: 4.3 bpg (88th)                                                           South Carolina State: 4.0 bpg (106^th)

REBOUND MARGIN:                                                      

Clemson: +3.8 (79th)                                                      Coastal Carolina: +9.7 (6^th)

South Carolina +1.5 (148th)                                         USC Upstate: +4.8 (57^th)

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE:

Clemson: 40.6% (88th)                                                   Coastal Carolina: 39.9% (60^th)

South Carolina: 43.2% (192nd)                                    College of Charleston: 41.8% (133^rd)

THREE PT FG DEFENSE:

Clemson: 33.8% (163rd)                                                  Furman: 32.2% (100th)

South Carolina: 37.8% (302nd)                                    Coastal Carolina: 32.8% (128^th)

ASSISTS PER GAME:

Clemson: 13.5 apg (131st)                                            The Citadel: 14.4 apg (75^th)

South Carolina: 10.9 apg (293rd)                             Wofford: 14.2 apg (88^th)

ASSIST TURNOVER RATIO:

Clemson: 1.03 (105^th)                                                      Wofford: 1.12 (58^th)

South Carolina: .83 (236^th)                                            The Citadel: 1.02 (114^th)

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE:

Clemson: 43.7% (167^th)                                                  Coastal Carolina: 50.3% (7^th)

South Carolina: 42.7% (205^th)                                      Charleston Southern: 45.9% (85^th)

FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE:

Clemson: 70.2% (122^nd)                                                 Furman: 74.9% (22^nd)

South Carolina: 69.2% (147^th)                                      Coastal Carolina: 67.4% (202^nd)

SCORING MARGIN:

Clemson: +7.1 (96^th)                                                        Coastal Carolina: +11.4 (44^th)

South Carolina: +2.6 (166^th)                                          College of Charleston: +4.6 (133^rd)

STEALS PER GAME:

South Carolina: 7.1 stpg (141^st)                                   USC Upstate: 9.0 stpg (22^nd)

Clemson: 6.4 stpg (209^th)                                              Charleston Southern: 9.0 stpg (22^nd)

THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE PER GAME:

South Carolina: 6.5 (137^th)                                            Charleston Southern: 8.6 (22^nd)

Clemson: 5.5 (227^th)                                                        College of Charleston: 8.3 (34^th)

THREE-POINT FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE:

South Carolina: 33.9% (172^nd)                                    Charleston Southern: 38.8% (34^th)

Clemson: 33.5% (184^th)                                                  College of Charleston: 36.6% (89^th)

TURNOVER MARGIN:

South Carolina: +1.5 (107^th)                                       Charleston Southern: +2.9 (44^th)

Clemson: +1.1 (133^rd)                                                     USC Upstate: +1.8 (88^th)

TURNOVERS PER GAME:

South Carolina: 13.1 topg (91^st)                                 Wofford: 12.6 topg (63^rd)

Clemson: 13.1 topg (91^st)                                              Winthrop: 13.1 topg (98^th)

Bruce Ellington had his best game of the season (FILE PHOTO)

Bruce Ellington scored a season-high 17 points in a 57-45 USC victory over Wofford Wednesday night at Colonia Life Arena. Ellington, who will fly down to Orlando Thursday to join the Gamecock football team, hit five of Carolina’s season high 11 three pointers. It is USC’s fourth win in the past five games. The lone loss was against second ranked Ohio State.

AUDIO: Darrin Horn

Freshman Damien Leonard came off the bench to score 14 points, 12 of which came on three pointers. 40 of the Gamecocks 57 points came from the bench.

AUDIO: B. Ellington, D. Leonard, D. Harris post game

The win evens USC’s record at 6-6. The team is back on the floor Saturday against USC Upstate.  Ellington will not play in that game because of his obligation to the Capital One Bowl.  He will be back for the January 3rd home game against S.C. State.

Wednesday night’s loss dropps Wofford to 7-6.

BOX SCORE

Furman linebacker Kadarron Anderson and Paladins corner back Ryan Steed earned second team honors. Coastal Carolina tight end David Duran made the third team offense and Coastal Carolina corner back Josh Norman also made the third team.

Matt Price

USC pitchers Michael Roth and Matt Price highlight the in-state players on the 2012 NCBWA preseason All-American team. Roth won 14 games last season, posting a 1.06 ERA. Price served as the Gamecocks closer a year ago, but he will join the starting rotation for the two time defending national champions this season.

Joining Roth and Price on the first team are College of Charleston outfielder Daniel Aldrich and Presbyterian DH Brad Zebedis. Aldrich won a home run derby in Omaha over the summer and hit .347 for the Cougars last year. Zebedis hit .425 for PC a year ago.

USC first baseman Christian Walker made the second team.

You can see the entire All-American squads here.

Gregg Nibert works the official during a loss at USC Tuesday night

For a half, Presbyterian looked like it might be on the verge of pulling off one of its biggest wins in school history. A tenacious Blue Hose defense held USC to just seven baskets in the first half and PC went into the locker room with a 25-19 lead. They were not able to maintain that working margin in the second half though. A red hot Gamecock team shot 70 percent from the floor and come from behind to win 66-58 Tuesday night in Columbia.

“I don’t know if we just got tired, but I think they really picked up their offensive execution,” PC coach Gregg Nibert said. “Coach Horn did a really good job of running their offense in the second half.

AUDIO: Gregg Nibert

Nibert’s team is no stranger to playing in hostile environments. Over the past few years they’ve played at places like North Carolina, Duke and Kansas State. Earlier this year they won at Cincinnati. These are games Nibbert said his team expects to win.

“We have a really good team, we have some seniors and juniors and they played the game to win,” Nibert said. “They’re not going to quit and I knew we were going to make some kind of run at it. But my hats off to Coach Horn and their players and staff. They made the plays when they needed to.

The loss drops PC to 4-5 this season.

Wofford coach Mike Young

Today’s in-state college basketball slate is highlighted by Clemson’s trip to Tucson to face Arizona. The Tigers are 4-3 and coming off a home loss to rival USC this week. All three of the Tigers losses have come at home (Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston). The Wildcats are 6-3 this season. They lost at Florida earlier this week.

The Tigers and Cats will tip off at 4:00 on Fox Sports Net.

Other games today include Wofford going for a third straight win as it plays host to Virginia Wise. This one tips off at 7:00 in Spartanburg. And S.C. State plays at Gardner-Webb at 7:00.

AUDIO: Cliff Ellis

Brad Brownell's team is the latest SoCon upset victim

Teams are probably going to start thinking twice before booking a SoCon opponent any time soon. Just days after USC lost at Elon, The College of Charleston basketball team stunned Clemson Saturday night with a 72-69 win at Littlejohn Coliseum. It is the first time the Cougars have won at Clemson and just their second win in the series.

Charleston built a double digit lead in the first half, and then held off the Tigers down the stretch to improve to 3-0 this season.

“It’s a tough day to be a Tiger,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Give Charleston a lot of credit. We knew coming into the game that their starting five can all really score. They make you pay for any defensive mistakes. For whatever reason, our team was a little lethargic in the beginning.”

The College of Charleston is no stranger to knocking of big name schools. Bobby Cremins team beat Tennessee last year. The win Saturday night gives him wins over Clemson and USC since taking over the Cougar program.

“We played a perfect first half- the boys did exactly what we talked about,” Cremins said. “I was ready to get on the bus at halftime. We knew what was going to happen- we just had to hold the gap. We held them for a while, but the later it got, the sloppier we got.”

The College of Charleston improves to 3-0 this season. Clemson is 2-1.