A look at what’s left to accomplish for the Gamecocks in 2012

October 27, 2012; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks defensive end Devin Taylor (98) celebrates a South Carolina Gamecocks recovery of a Tennessee Volunteers fumble in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-US PRESSWIRE

Believe it or not, there’s still a chance for the South Carolina Gamecocks to reach two of their loftiest goals this season.

The first one, winning the SEC East, is the least likely, but we’ll know this weekend whether or not it happened.

If Florida loses to Missouri and Georgia falls to Ole Miss, the Gamecocks will win the SEC East (unless Auburn somehow pulls the upset of Georgia two weeks from now, in which case UF would take the crown); All three teams would end up with the same SEC record, but Florida would be eliminated because of its two Eastern Division losses, and Georgia would be eliminated because of their head to head loss with South Carolina.

Unlikely, but still possible.

Next, and still very much a possibility, is a BCS bowl birth for the Gamecocks.

At No. 8 in the BCS poll, Carolina sits right behind LSU, Georgia and Florida (No. 5, 6, 7), and with tough games remaining for all four of these teams, should Carolina win out, they’ll probably get a birth to the Sugar Bowl.

For that to happen, a few things would need to play out:

LSU would have to lose to Alabama this weekend (likely).
Georgia would have to lose in the SEC Championship (likely).
Florida would probably have to lose to Florida State (possible).

Carolina could still make the Sugar Bowl if Florida wins out, because the people who run the bowl get to pick which SEC team they want. The Gators would probably get the nod if they finish ahead of South Carolina in the rankings, but that’s not something set in stone.

The best thing that could happen for the Gamecocks in this situation is for Clemson to keep winning, and Florida State to lose another game before their matchup with Florida.

Even if the Gamecocks miss out on the SEC East crown and the Sugar Bowl, if they win out, they’ll have won 11 games for the second year in a row, and finish the season in the BCS top 10.