Shane Beamer makes case for South Carolina to reach College Football Playoff

South Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the country as the regular season comes to an end. The Gamecocks beat rival Clemson 17-14 on Saturday for their sixth straight win.

South Carolina was No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings last week. However, Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer believes his team deserves a spot in the CFP with the way it has played down the stretch.

“I do believe we deserve a spot in the 12-team playoff. I get it, the committee has a really tough job. They have to choose the 12 best teams. I get it,” Shane Beamer said. “We’ve got three losses. I understand that. But it’s hard for me to sit here and say that we’re not one of the 12 best teams in the country when you look at our strength of schedule, when you look at our wins, on the road.

“I think we’re now 4-1 on the road this year, in tough environments. We’re not going and playing in front of 20,000 people on the road, like some teams do in this country. We go into hostile environments every single week. And our only loss on the road is a two-point loss.”

South Carolina dropped a tough game at Alabama on Oct. 12, falling 27-25. Since then, the Gamecocks have wins at Oklahoma, at Vanderbilt and at Clemson. South Carolina has also knocked off ranked teams in Texas A&M and Missouri at home during the winning streak.

There’s no denying that the Gamecocks are playing as well as just about anybody in the country down the stretch.

“You talk about strength of schedule, I think today is our fourth top 25 win, with the 12th-highest strength of schedule,” Beamer said. “So I get it, there’s some very deserving teams out there.

“But if the committee’s job is to pick the 12 best teams, you tell me. You tell me on Selection Sunday, everybody across the country, if South Carolina pops up on that bracket, I don’t know of any team that would be excited about having to play this team right now.”