If Frank Martin convinces just one media member outside of the Palmetto State to give his team a second look, then the trip to Birmingham will have been worth it.
Martin took part in SEC Media Day and the preseason media poll was one of the topics that he discussed.
The Gamecocks were picked to finish 10th in the poll which was released on Tuesday. In the seven seasons under Martin, the Gamecocks have outperformed their preseason predictions five times, including three times finishing at least four spots ahead of their preseason prediction. Last year, the Gamecocks were picked to finish 11th and they ended up with the number four seed in the SEC Tournament. So, preseason polls isn't where Martin puts his focus.
"The media didn't vote Chris (Silva) First Team All-Conference at the end of last season," Martin said Wednesday.
"So, for whatever reason, who we are is not appealing to the media which is fine. I'm not here to win a popularity contest. We're here to coach basketball and play. I’ve got too much respect for the other coaches and the other teams in this league to be worrying about where our preseason ranking is. I was a part of a team that was preseason number three in the country in the Big 12 and seven games into conference play we were 2-5. So that preseason ranking was out the window real fast. All that’s irrelevant. I'm just a little disappointed that our program isn’t given a little bit more respect.”