Can you hear them coming?

South Carolina has won 15 games and played in a minor bowl game in each of the last two years but expectations for the upcoming season are much higher.

Coach Steve Spurrier is used to competing for championships in the Southeastern Conference and was on the brink of doing so a year ago, until losses to Tennessee (31-24), Arkansas (26-20) and Florida (17-16) derailed those hopes.

But Spurrier doesn't want fans to be content with narrow defeats.

"Don't applaud our guys when we have close losses," he said today at the opening day of the SEC Media Days. "You don't need to boo us or anything but don't applaud."

Spurrier's goal for 2007?

"This year, we're going to try to win the conference," he said.

Spurrier feels like the team has the talent now to compete with the best in the SEC.

"We lost some close games last year, didn't play our best maybe or didn't coach our best," Spurrier said. "But we feel like our talent level is good enough now to say, 'Hey, let's go win our conference championship. ... We need to go to the ballpark feeling we're just as good as Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. I know we're not going to be picked and shouldn't be picked but we need to come to the ballpark with these teams feeling we're just as good."

Quarterback Blake Mitchell has two years under his belt in Spurrier's system and after some up and down seasons that included some off-field problems, the senior could be ready to rise to another level.

"I may have bragged a little too much about his this time last year," Spurrier said.

But Mitchell bounced back from a bad start to win the MVP of the Liberty Bowl.

"He's very capable," Spurrier said. "He's very capable of taking us a long way."

The backfield is solid, led by the return of 823-yard rusher Cory Boyd, who is also great coming out of the backfield to catch passes.

Boyd shares Spurrier's optimism.

"Football is always about a mind game," Boyd said. "It always starts with your mind. Your body is only going to do what your subconscious believes."

Defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix figures to make great strides with that unit, which could be a huge key if the offense comes along as expected.

If there's a big question, it's the offensive line and coming up with some more big play receivers. But the pieces appear to be falling in place with 17 starters returning and 52 lettermen overall from last year's 8-5 team.

Click, clack?

In the 2007 media guide, a page declaring the Gamecocks' new deal with Under Armour declares: "We Think You Hear Us Coming."

For sure, all ears — and eyes — have turned to Columbia, S.C., the last couple of years to see if Spurrier, who was given a $500,000 raise to $1.75 million per year starting on July 1, can put the Gamecocks among the elite after becoming a legend at Florida, leading the Gators to the 1996 national title.

Spurrier said boosters gave money this summer at South Carolina, "Like they'd never given before."

Why the increased attention and finances? It all starts with Spurrier, of course. He's a draw because he's won in the past and then, well, sometimes the things he says ...

On Wednesday, Spurrier was asked about Kentucky winning eight games last year and somehow, by the time he was done, he ended up muttering: "We felt like we did something when we beat Clemson (last year) but then Kentucky beat them, too."

A lot has changed since Spurrier arrived two years ago. For one there's that click and clack — Under Armour signed a six-year deal worth almost $11 million for South Carolina to become one of just four college programs to wear its gear from head to toe.

For another, the football team posted its best-ever combined grade point average (of better than 2.6) for a spring semester.

And, of course, the media attention has changed drastically. Seven South Carolina games were broadcast last season by either ESPN or CBS with an eighth game on ESPN2. As one fan's sign read last season: "Eventually Spurrier's Private Network."