Adams: 'Cocktail Party' playing second fiddle

When you think 12:30 kickoff, you think Mississippi State or Vanderbilt. When you think 12:30 kickoff, you think TV leftovers.

Not this time.

Never mind that the Vols and Gamecocks will kick off on Jefferson-Pilot three hours before Georgia and Florida take SEC center stage on CBS. The SEC's warm-up act has something the supposed main event lacks: two teams in the running for the SEC East championship.

South Carolina vs. UT always has gotten second billing to the "World's Biggest Cocktail Party" in Jacksonville, Fla. Florida has gone out of its way to change that.

When the Gators lost to lowly Mississippi State on Saturday, the East race was narrowed to UT, Georgia and long-shot South Carolina. Obviously, the Gamecocks are the surprise contender.

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz has used four quarterbacks and alternated just as many running backs while keeping his team in the running for the championship despite losing to Ole Miss and almost losing to Kentucky. For all their struggles, the Gamecocks are agonizingly close to being 7-0.

Georgia rallied from a 16-0 deficit to beat the Gamecocks in the final minutes last month. Ole Miss beat them in the last minute two weeks ago.

Those two games show how close South Carolina is to having the upper hand in the SEC East. Georgia and Ole Miss almost beat UT on their final possessions.

UT held. South Carolina didn't.

The outcomes reflect the difference in the programs. The Vols find a way to win those games; the Gamecocks find a way to lose them.

Since South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992, five of its games against UT have been decided by eight or fewer points. It won the first one and lost the last four (2000-03).

Holtz has talked repeatedly about trying to "change the culture" at South Carolina. Based on the blown lead against Georgia and the last-minute loss to an inferior Ole Miss team, nothing has changed.

But there is still time.

Despite those two failures, South Carolina could win the East. Unlike the Vols, it needs help. Lots of help.

If UT beats South Carolina and Georgia loses to Florida, the Vols would only have to beat Vanderbilt or Kentucky to clinch the East. The South Carolina scenario is more complicated but not impossible. The Gamecocks need to win their final three conference games against UT, Arkansas and Florida; then hope Georgia loses to Florida and Auburn.

That would qualify as a culture change for a program accustomed to faltering down the stretch. In fact, "faltering" is too kind.

Since joining the SEC, South Carolina has either played UT the last Saturday in October or the first Saturday of November with one exception. Last year, the teams played in September.

When the game has been played at the end of October or the beginning of November, it has signaled a South Carolina collapse. In those 11 seasons, South Carolina is 7-29 from the UT game to the end of the regular season.

The competition obviously has something to do with the record. South Carolina's stretch run always has included Florida and Clemson.

The names haven't changed, but there's more reason for South Carolina to be optimistic. Once the dominant team in the SEC, Florida already has lost three SEC games, and Clemson is 3-4.

But if the Gamecocks want to change their image, they first have to take care of UT.

"Both teams play good defense and both teams like to run the ball," Georgia coach Mark Richt said when asked Sunday to compare the two. "Tennessee's passing game -- when they get it going -- might be a little stronger, but South Carolina has some big-strike capabilities with (wide receiver Troy Williamson). It ought to be a pretty good ball game."

Good enough to be the game of the day in the SEC.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.