~ South Carolina seeks Top 25 rating and recruiting boost.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Don't tell Steve Spurrier South Carolina doesn't have much at stake at the Independence Bowl.

Despite Spurrier's historic season in his Gamecock debut, South Carolina's head bowl coach wants his team focused on what's still to achieve when it takes on Missouri in Friday's bowl.

"We got a lot to play for," Spurrier said. "We're right on that bubble of being in the top 25 or not. We have 10 coaches vote for us at 7-4. Maybe we can get 10 or 15 more to vote for us" with a postseason victory.

An Independence win would give South Carolina eight victories for the first time in four years since Lou Holtz's 2001 Gamecocks went 9-3 with a win in the Outback Bowl. That also was the last time the Gamecocks finished in the top 25.

"That was one of our goals," Spurrier said. "We got a shot at it, lets see if we can do it."

South Carolina has already achieved more than most thought it could with its first five-game Southeastern Conference win streak and a three-game stretch of success that's rarely been equaled in school history.

Impressive streak

Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 16-15 win at Tennessee, the school's first ever victory in Knoxville. A week later, South Carolina won at Arkansas, 14-10, for the first time since 1997. Then came a 30-22 win over Spurrier's alma mater and old employer, Florida, something South Carolina had not accomplished in 66 years.

"I know we all feel extremely fortunate that we won those three games in a row with Tennessee, Arky and Florida," Spurrier said. "Three games that could have gone either way. ... Our guys hung in there and our guys played the entire games."

The team has worked out through a frigid Southern cold snap since Saturday, yet their practices have been crisp, Spurrier said.

Part of the reason could be the joy the team felt finally breaking its run of bowl futility.

Linebacker Lance Laury, a senior, remembers being a redshirt freshman on the Gamecocks last bowl team. "We thought we'd go the next year and the year after that," Laury said.

Instead, the team stumbled at the end of their next two seasons at 5-7, losing five straight in 2002 and four in a row in 2003 when one victory during those stretches would've qualified them for a bowl trip.

In 2004, the Gamecocks looked like they were back in the postseason when a victory against Arkansas left them 6-3. But the chance was wiped out by a last-game on-field fight with Clemson. The Tigers also finished 6-5 and gave a bowl game as punishment for the brawl.

Laury said he and his teammates have felt the nerves and excitement of the upcoming game, yet have kept the focus on preparing to face Missouri. "We want to leave here with a victory and give the team reason to think there's more ahead," he said.

Spurrier's all in favor of that.

Despite his surprising first season, he realizes that with a few less good bounces his team could easily be 4-7. He has not been pleased with his team's third-down play on either side of the ball, or with the fact the Gamecock ran the fewest offensive plays of any SEC team (650).

Conversely, South Carolina's defense was on the field for 790 plays, second most in the league to Kentucky's 823.

Those are all areas of concern for the bowl practices -- and in the upcoming recruiting season.

One more South Carolina victory could sway a number of high-school playmakers Spurrier's targeted to helped bring the Gamecocks to the top of the SEC.

"So hopefully we can coach better and play better in the future," he said. "We're still not near where we hope to be."