A couple of quick hits:

• It was announced during the BCS National Championship Game that South Carolina’s own Jadeveon Clowney was voted as the AT&T All-America Player of the Year. The award is based on fan votes, and I’m sure Jadeveon’s monster hit during the Outback Bowl helped encourage people to vote for him.

Clowney finished the season with 13 sacks, a school record. He also racked up 40 solo tackles and won the Ted Hendricks Award for the nation’s top defensive end. He received multiple other awards, nominations, and accolades as well. Congrats on a spectacular season, Jadeveon!

• The final AP and USA Today/Coaches Polls were released following the national title game, and South Carolina, with a record of 11-2, finished at No. 8 in the AP Poll, the best final ranking the Gamecocks have ever had (with the same record, they finished No. 9 last year). They finished even higher, at No. 7, in the USA/Today Coaches Poll. In the final BCS rankings of the season, which were released before the bowls began, USC checked in at No. 10.