Steve Spurrier calls it "old news," but let's not kid ourselves.

The second return of the head ball coach of South Carolina to his old chomping grounds in Florida's Swamp is big news. It's news of potential national championship import.

Not for South Carolina, of course. To the Gamecocks, the value of a victory Saturday might be measured in the difference on the bowl menu between Chick-fil-A vs. Outback Steakhouse. South Carolina fans are just happy to be invited to the postseason buffet.

For the fourth-ranked Gators, however, it could be the difference between a second national title in three years or just another BCS bowl.

As usual, Spurrier is playing down the chances of his three-touchdown underdogs.

"We'll try to hang together, give it our best shot and see what happens," he said. "We look forward to the environment down there and look forward to going with the attitude that we don't have anything to lose."

Four years into his reign in Columbia, the Spurrier vs. Florida story line isn't quite as intense as it was two years ago, when the Gamecocks came oh so close to derailing Florida's 2006 national championship season. It took a blocked 48-yard field goal as time expired for the Gators to eke out a 17-16 victory.

But the coaching subplot still simmers.

Florida coach Urban Meyer privately bristles at the admiration many Florida fans still hold for the Ol' Ball Coach, who won a Heisman Trophy wearing a Gators uniform in 1966 and built the program in the 1990s into the national power it is today.

It is very telling just how insecure the new coach is when you see a copy of a book entitled What It Means to Be a Gator: Urban Meyer and Florida's Greatest Players , and find out that Spurrier is not mentioned inside. Incredibly petty.

Now here comes Spurrier again, with the Southeastern Conference's No. 1 defense trying to play the spoiler to his old team. In a stadium where the Gamecocks have never won and against a Florida team and top-ranked offense that Spurrier says is better than the one that won the national title two years ago, the odds are justifiably long.

"Two years ago, you felt like you had a chance and a lot of teams had chances," Spurrier said this week. "Certainly, Florida won the close ones two years ago that led them all the way through to the national championship. Now, they are sort of blowing out people pretty regularly."

South Carolina was one of the teams Florida blew out a year ago, 51-31, exhibiting for the first time in three tries against Spurrier the Gator superiority complex that he first instilled in the program. But this is not the same Gamecocks team that was in free fall 12 months ago. It's one that Spurrier considers his best in Columbia.

His players are believing it by winning six of the past seven games since a 1-2 start. They have more faith than the oddsmakers that Saturday is not a foregone conclusion.

"Not a lot of people are expecting us to do anything; I think we're 21-point underdogs," tight end Weslye Saunders said. "But coach (Spurrier) said we're going to go down there 'loosey-goosey' and hopefully upset the Florida Gators. It would be huge right now. They're already playing for the SEC championship, but they're going for the national championship.

"Hopefully, we can upset them and ruin their parade."

South Carolina players have plenty of motive of their own. Certainly, place-kicker Ryan Succop would like another shot to get a field goal past the Florida rush that is once again known for getting its mitts on kicks. Former Thomson star Jasper Brinkley would like to make a closing statement against the only SEC East team he hasn't beaten.

"You always want to come out and make a statement," Brinkley said. "After what happened last year, I had an opportunity to stand on the sideline and watch them rip us to pieces. You want to go back out this year and prove a point that we are capable of playing with these guys. It would be great if we can go down there and make that statement on their home field."

In the modern college landscape that provides major upsets week after week, this isn't beyond the scope of possibility. Sure, Tim Tebow accounted for seven touchdowns against South Carolina last year. Sure, the Gamecocks are implementing an unconventional two-quarterback rotation on every play. Sure, South Carolina has never won in The Swamp.

But this Gamecocks team is the most dangerous kind of opponent to face in a must-win game -- just good enough on defense to be dangerous, and just average enough on the whole to be overlooked.

"We're not just that underdog in the SEC East anymore, we're a contender for the SEC championship," said center Garret Anderson of the club's developing mind-set. "We really messed ourselves up in the beginning of the year, starting 1-2, but it shows the potential for what we can do next year."

It's not time to break out the wait-till-next-year refrain the Gamecocks are so familiar with. On Saturday, they can do something that both sides of the Spurrier universe will be talking about for years to come.

That would be a very big deal indeed.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.