JACKSONVILLE — Whatever success the Jacksonville State football team will derive in this year without a postseason will be determined by the mindset of the players and moments yet to be seen, Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe said.

It has been three weeks since the NCAA upheld the Gamecocks' postseason football ban for repeatedly falling below academic performance benchmarks.

After a couple days for the shock of knowing their season will end after Game 11 to wear off, the players went back to their off-season conditioning and informal workouts, apparently using as inspiration the way two troubled but vastly talented Southeastern Conference teams overcame the NCAA hammer to dominate the competition.

"We've been constantly talking about the 1984 Florida Gators and the 1993 Auburn team," senior safety Josh Cain said. "We've been talking about teams that got on probation, but still went out there and they just played. That's what I want to do. I want to redefine JSU. There was a time when OVC teams just trembled to come here and I want to put that back.

"I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't disappointed we don't even have a shot at the postseason, especially in my senior year. We've got a shot to be really good this year and everybody who plays us, if we end up good, will know who the best (team) was.

"In 1993, the SEC knew who the best was. In 1984, people knew about the Florida Gators. And that's kind of what I see the season as. It is a bummer we can't go to the playoffs, but that doesn't mean we can't go out there and we can't win games, can't be a dominant football team."

Cain said that feeling resonates throughout the team, especially with the seniors, who talked about the issue among themselves after the final decision was rendered. The Star sought additional interviews with two of the team's more high-profile seniors, quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and safety Carnell Clark, but athletic department officials are denying access to them until the team's media day Aug. 6.

In 1984, Florida played under the cloud of an NCAA investigation for major violations that ultimately landed it on probation. Still, the Gators went 9-1-1 (5-0-1 in the SEC), and finished No. 3 in the Associated Press poll.

In 1993, Auburn was on probation and couldn't play in the SEC Championship Game, but that didn't stop the Tigers from going 11-0 and even being declared national champions in some minor polls.

"That was brought up," Crowe said. "And then there's Central Arkansas last year that really dominated at times in the Southland Conference and the whole year they knew they weren't going to be in the postseason (because of its transitional status, not NCAA penalties). It's an assumption that this team has lost any of its edge with that. I don't think anybody ought to assume that happened. I don't think we put ourselves in a well trying to figure out how to get out of it."

Because of the postseason ban, the Gamecocks will not be eligible for the Ohio Valley Conference championship. With eight starters back on each side of the ball and the potential preseason Player of the Year (Perrilloux), they likely would have been installed as the league favorite. Now, they aren't even included on the ballot for the traditional predicted order of finish.

The Gamecocks still will play a full conference schedule and those games will count in the standings, so even though they can't win the league, they will affect who will.

"Everybody will know (the best team), whether recognition goes along with it or not," Crowe said. "I can tell you, we played Florida in 1984 (when he coached at Auburn). We knew who the (best) football team was. And we were picked."

Cain said he knew the possibilities facing the program, but said he didn't know how serious the situation was until the school started the appeal process. The NCAA initially denied the Gamecocks' request for a waiver of the penalties, and later upheld the ban without comment other that pointing to the poor academic scores the program has posted over the last three years.

It was a doubly hard hit, considering the Gamecocks were passed over for a playoff bid despite an 8-3 record for a Maine team with one more loss and some weak non-conference wins.

"After the Maine thing last year, we're itching to prove how far we've come, how good we can be," Cain said. "That left kind of a bad taste in our mouth last year, so knowing we're not going to get the chance to go to the playoffs and play some of these teams and show them … wasn't good, but we've just kept on working.

"If anything, we've taken this as another incentive to work harder rather than an excuse or something to drag them down. We've got a chance to go out there and prove, yeah, you kept us out of the playoffs, but we can still be a really good football team. I think because of this we want to go out and prove we're not what you guys labeled us to be."

The Gamecocks lost six points on their APR score for players who had completed their undergraduate work, had eligibility remaining and entered grad school, but didn't complete that work after their eligibility expired. The program also lost more than a dozen points for players dismissed for failed drug tests or other accountability issues.

As painful as the ultimate decision was, Cain said the program did the right thing by biting the bullet and unloading the bad seeds.

"I think it was the right call for the program," he said. "The things that hurt us were players were lost for disciplinary measures. Had we kept some of that and kind of tolerated more on our team, I think it would have ultimately hurt our program more. I think we're really sending the message that we're going to do things the right way in this program no matter what that costs.

"Yeah, we're going to suffer a little in the short term for it and yeah, it's not what I hoped for my senior season, but I think the program is going to be better for it and I think we can really take this year and use it as a fresh start."