Spurrier not publicly saying who he wants to win Elite Eight game

Steve Spurrier is the winningest football coach at South Carolina and Florida, and the Hall of Famer isn’t saying who he wants to win Sunday’s men’s basketball game in the Elite Eight.

The SEC rivals are playing in the NCAA Tournament, with a berth in the Final Four on the line.

Spurrier was goaded by former Gamecocks standout receiver Pharoh Cooper on Twitter, looking to see who the Head Ball Coach would be pulling for in the game.

Spurrier took the diplomatic route, at least on social media.

But other reports on Twitter made it clear that Spurrier is pulling for the Gators, where he won a Heisman Trophy as a player, a national championship as a coach and now serves as an ambassador.

Spurrier had been hired as an “ambassador” in Columbia, but ultimately returned to Florida after resigning as the Gamecocks football coach midway through the 2015 season.

Spurrier coached collegiately for 26 years at Duke, Florida and South Carolina, compiling a 228-89-2 record. He won the 1996 national championship as the Gators’ coach. Spurrier led the Gamecocks to their only SEC East title, three consecutive 11-win seasons and was 86-49 in 10 1/2 years at the school.

Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman Trophy as Florida’s quarterback, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986. He’s the fourth person to be elected to the Hall as both a player and a coach.

He wasn’t the only football coach in the rivalry to have a rooting interest in the game. Current Florida football coach Jim McElwain made the trip up from Gainesville with his wife, Karen, to root on the Gators against South Carolina on Sunday.

McElwain said it was his first time attending an event at Madison Square Garden. It will be a quick trip. He says he has a 7 a.m. staff meeting on Monday morning.

Spurrier wasn’t at the game. A Florida spokesman said the coach is out of the country.

Of course the rivalry involves current Gamecocks football coach Will Muschamp. Like Spurrier, he’s coached at Florida and USC.

On Saturday, Muschamp was uncertain if he would watching the men’s basketball team play Florida on Sunday from his couch or from Madison Square Garden.

“I haven’t talked to (athletics director Ray) Tanner. I’d love to watch it live, but if I watch it on TV, that’ll be alright,” he said. “Excited about watching our guys get a chance to go to the Final Four.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Spurrier not publicly saying who he wants to win Elite Eight game."