re: More Surprising 2013 National Champion: LSU or South Carolina:

I think USC is better prepared to step up and win more big games than they have lately and their schedule is more favorable than LSU's.

So I'll say USC even tho I think LSU has the talent to put it together if Cam and Mett mesh.

This isn't even a question- it's South Carolina by a country mile. They're the most pathetic program in SEC history.

They've been in a football conference for 70 years. They've won one conference championship. Read that again. 70 years of chances, 1 title. They've been in the SEC for two decades and haven't won it yet. They've only played for it once.

The year that they won their conference title in the ACC they were 7-4. Want to know how bad the rest of the ACC was that year? Not a single other ACC team ended the season with a winning record. The second place finisher, NC State finished 3-2-1 in conference and 3-6-1 overall.

The year that they won the East in 2010, they were the only eastern division team with a winning conference record. The East was terrible that year. The worst in a long, long time.

As you can see, the only times in 70 years that South Carolina has even had modest football success have been when every other team around them tanked. The likelihood that's going to happen this year is very, very low. Florida will be good, UGA will be good, and USC will fight it out with the rest of the East for 3rd place.

I would be more surprised by USC winning, but I've well prepared to be surprised this year. I think the team will do well and we'll find out over the next 5 months