Saturday Tailgate: South Carolina

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Yeah, we’ve beaten the losing streak to South Carolina — 13 games — to death. To put that in perspective, since the last time Vanderbilt beat South Carolina, Vanderbilt has beaten Tennessee five times. And if you had told me in 2008 that in the next thirteen years we’d beat Tennessee five times and South Carolina none, I’d have thought you were crazy. After all, I was 21 years old when Vanderbilt beat Tennessee for the first time in my life.

And yet, no matter how promising Vanderbilt’s prospects look against South Carolina, I have to remind myself of all that — 13 losses in a row — before I get too sanguine about Vanderbilt’s chances to beat them. South Carolina looked unimpressive in a 23-10 loss to Missouri at home last week, and yet.

That’s why of course this was the game on the schedule before which a Vanderbilt assistant coach decided to go post something dumb on Facebook. Because we can’t have nice things, but especially not when it comes to South Carolina.

Pregame Reading

• Game Notes: Vanderbilt | South Carolina
• No Quit in the Commodores
• Five for Friday: South Carolina
• Three Matchups to Watch: Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina
• Film Room: Solving the Secondary

Other Vanderbilt sports

Well, it’s really just men’s tennis, which went 4-3 in singles and 2-1 in doubles in the first day of the Georgia Tech Invitational.

Oh yeah, and Will Gordon shot 4-under par in the second round at Mayakoba and sits three shots behind leader Russell Henley.

Sports on TV (non-college football edition)

All times Central.

• 1:00 PM: NHL: Avalanche at Blue Jackets (NHL Network)
• 6:00 PM: NHL: Bruins at Maple Leafs (NHL Network)
• 6:30 PM: NBA: Celtics at Knicks (NBA TV)
• 7:00 PM: MLB: World Series, Game 6: Phillies at Astros (FOX)
• 9:00 PM: NBA: Blazers at Suns (NBA TV)

Scoreboard

NBA: Cavaliers 112, Pistons 88 ... Pacers 101, Heat 99 ... Knicks 106, 76ers 104 ... Nets 128, Wizards 86 ... Celtics 123, Bulls 119 ... Grizzlies 130, Hornets 99 ... Clippers 113, Spurs 106 ... Mavericks 111, Raptors 110 ... Pelicans 114, Warriors 105 ... Bucks 115, Timberwolves 102 ... Trail Blazers 108, Suns 106 ... Jazz 130, Lakers 116.

NHL: Avalanche 6, Blue Jackets 3 ... Hurricanes 5, Sabres 3.