If you missed it back in January, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier found a few reporters at a hoops game and played a game of his own with them.
"I came across a certain statistical trivia that I wanted to ask you guys," Spurrier said, according to my old newspaper, The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier. "How many teams in the BCS conferences have won 11 or more the last two years? I've got a bonus for you if anybody knows the answer."
Two reporters answered correctly: Alabama. Oregon. Stanford. And the Gamecocks.
Spurrier gave them each a $100 bill. (No word on whether they ultimately kept the Benjamins.)
Think about that. Not the money. Not how goofy of Spurrier. No, think about the accomplishment.
To read Travis Haney's full blog post on the Gamecocks and three other teams knocking on the door, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
