Shane Beamer defends South Carolina's College Football Playoff resume entering Palmetto Bowl vs. Clemson

Shane Beamer is very adamant about South Carolina making the College Football Playoff, should the Gamecocks beat Clemson on the road Saturday.

He kept the mantra going during his pregame conversation with SEC Nation Saturday. In a classic rivalry, Clemson and South Carolina have no love lost between them.

So if South Carolina gets this win, knocking off another potential playoff team in Clemson, the Gamecocks should go to the dance, per Beamer.

“We’ve got a really big challenge today, so let’s take care of business here first,” Beamer said. “But to me, if we were able to win today, it would be our fourth road win of the season. I believe we’ve had three of those by double digits. It would be our fourth, I think, top 25 win of the season. We’ve got two losses by a total of five points, and we’d be on a six game winning streak.

“And I get it, we have three losses, but the committee’s job is to pick the 12 best teams in the country, and to me, it would be really, really, really difficult to say that we are not one of the 12 best teams in the country if we were able to win today and be on a six game winning streak. I know this: There’s a lot of teams across the country that if we won today, would not want to see our name pop up as their opponent on a Selection Sunday.”

Going into the Palmetto Bowl, Beamer knew the ramifications earlier this week. Everything’s on the line Saturday afternoon.

So a win would be extra sweet for Beamer and South Carolina.

“The rivalry games, it’s what makes college athletics so special and so awesome to get to coach in a rivalry game like this,” Beamer said on Sirius XM. “The key thing is going to be, they’re emotional. You got to be able to keep your poise and composure and go play well. And the team that plays well is going to be the one that has the most success and we know that there’s more ramifications about this game. 

“I think it’s the first time both of us have been ranked since 2013 so we understand that, like I told our players, that’s because of the season that we’ve had. Like we put ourselves in a position where this is a quote unquote big game because of what we’ve done to this point. So continue to be us, and let’s worry about going 1-0 this week and I know it’s cliche but it’s true. Just go 1-0, and we do what we’re supposed to do everything else will work out the way it’s supposed to work out.”