Hope springs eternal.

It was another banner year in Columbia, South Carolina:

… Women’s soccer, with a 5-4-2 record, posted the only winning mark against SEC competition where standings were kept. [Emphasis added.]

That was the extent of USC’s success. It fell to 70th in the Directors Cup standings, its lowest ranking in the past 10 years. After placing fourth among SEC schools in 2002 and 2003, USC ranked 10th among the 12 SEC schools this year.

Just brutal.  But never fear, ‘Cock fans – the AD’s got your backs.

“I see the light in front of us,” says Eric Hyman, USC’s athletics director. “I say that very sincerely. I’m not saying that because it’s propaganda or because I’m supposed to say that. I believe in that.”

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It could have been the heat.

Ah, yes, college coaches, molders of young minds and the personification of sportsmanship.

Like NC State pitching coach Dan Holiday, who had a very special, very classy moment with the crowd at Foley Field yesterday.

(photo David Manning/Athens Banner-Herald)

Of course, in the spirit of Monday Night Football, he could have just been indicating that his team is #1.

I know gas is over $4 a gallon, but still…

What’s up with this?

Individual tickets for four Tennessee home football games – UAB (Sept. 13), Northern Illinois (Oct. 4), Wyoming (Nov. 8 ) and Kentucky (Nov. 29) – will be available for purchase online at UTSports.com beginning Monday.

Kentucky fans didn’t buy out their visitor allotment? UT-UK was one of the best games in the SEC last year, the team has been to two straight bowl games and they’re programs in neighboring states. Yeah, I know the losing streak is of a ridiculous length, but, hell, it’s SEC football.

Maybe it’s the beginning of the fabled BCS boycott (that’s a joke, son).

More preseason “Best of SEC” stuff

The Birmingham News polled the SEC SIDs to get their thoughts on the top players in the conference, ranked not so much by position, but by attributes. You can see their list here. It’s good to see Southerland and Ellerbe get some props; McKinley getting the nod for best receiver over Harvin was a bit of a surprise, if just from a media hype standpoint.