Greg McElroy questions why South Carolina feels it should be in College Football Playoff

Greg McElroy has a ton of respect for what South Carolina accomplished in 2024. However, he believes the College Football Playoff Selection Committee got it right by leaving them on the outside looking in.

Even with the expanded 12-team field, McElroy believes the Gamecocks’ resume didn’t exactly stack up with their competitors, specifically when it comes to their conference rivals. While South Carolina may be the hottest team in the nation, they did lose head-to-head to Alabama and Ole Miss, and that’s deservedly a deciding factor.

“Here’s where it gets very intriguing, and a lot of commentary and discussion right now is between Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina. Let me just start by going with the team that is currently ranked by the committee as the fourth team out of those four, and that’s South Carolina. I have a tremendous amount of respect for South Carolina,” McElroy started, via Always College Football. “I think that they’re playing really good football and they’re peaking at the right time. They have improved drastically. I also know that if LaNorris Sellers didn’t break 35 tackles this past weekend, they probably don’t beat Clemson. I also look at South Carolina’s resume and I’m not sure why South Carolina feels like they have an argument that should be made.

“If there’s one team that should be eliminated from this discussion, to me, it’s South Carolina, because I look at their losses. They lost convincingly to Ole Miss. And I know if you watch that game, it’s probably a little closer than the score would indicate, but still, they lost convincingly at home to Ole Miss. Then, the other loss is to Alabama. Those are two teams are being measured against. And when all things are equal, more often than not, I’ve always been one that has valued the head-to-head.

“When all things are equal or when all things are comparable, whether it’s strength-of-schedule, conference, resume, strength of record, game control — when everything’s equal, you have to value head-to-head. South Carolina has no argument to be made. They lost, not just to Ole Miss by 24 points, but they also lost to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And while they’ll say, ‘We lost by two in that game,’ I get that. … That was a cacophony of errors from Alabama, more so than it was South Carolina going out and saying, ‘Yeah, we’re the better team.’

“Like South Carolina, to me, great team, phenomenal year. Shane Beamer and company should feel so great about what they’ve accomplished, but they really don’t have an argument. And I’ve been a little bit surprised that people have been vouching so strongly in favor of the Gamecocks. Tons of respect for them, but their best wins right now are against Clemson and Missouri, and they lost to two teams they’re being measured against. Case closed.”

The 2024 season won’t end with a trip to the College Football Playoff for South Carolina, but Greg McElroy doesn’t believe Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks should hang their helmets. A tremendous season was had, and they’ll certainly be a popular pick to make it to the 12-team dance in 2025.