Sept. 30, 2007

The University of South Carolina Gamecocks moved up a few notches in this week’s national polls. The Gamecocks climbed from 16th to 11th in the Associated Press poll and went from 21st to 18th in the USA Today/Coaches’ poll.

The No. 11 ranking by the A.P. poll is the highest for the Gamecocks since they were ranked ninth in the country on Oct. 7, 2001 following a 42-6 win over Kentucky. They dropped a 10-7 decision at Arkansas the following week.

South Carolina (4-1, 2-1 SEC) will host the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats (5-0, 1-0 SEC) on Thursday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Wildcats will enter the game as the eighth-ranked team in both national polls. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN. Chris Fowler will provide the play-by-play with Craig James and Doug Flutie adding the color commentary. Erin Andrews will patrol the sidelines for ESPN.