Shane Beamer responds to Mario Cristobal comments on College Football Playoff debate

With the regular season at a close, and only conference championship games remaining before the College Football Playoff committee reveals its postseason rankings next Sunday, coaches all across the country are making their pitches to be counted among the newly-expanded 12-team field.

On Tuesday, that included several coaches whose teams are on the proverbial bubble with no games remaining to strengthen their Playoff cases on the field.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal was among those to take the stage during a Tuesday afternoon hit on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“I want to start by saying I respect all college teams, because everybody certainly fought hard this season to put themselves in a position to be in the conversation, but Miami certainly has done enough to be in the playoffs due to the fact that Miami has won 10 games,” Cristobal said on SportsCenter. “As opposed to some other candidates that have won nine games.”

One of those candidates with nine wins is South Carolina (9-3), which is arguably one of the hottest teams in college football after closing out the regular season on a six-game win streak.

Beamer: ‘It’s really, really hard to win’ in the SEC

When asked about Cristobal’s comments Tuesday afternoon on The Paul Finebaum Show, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer responded in kind.

“I’ll say this: winning is hard. I was actually on the phone yesterday with Dabo Swinney and he and I were talking about it. Winning is hard,” Beamer told Finebaum. “Whether you win 8, 9, 10 (games), it’s really hard to win football games. But it’s really, really hard to win football games in (the SEC). … Yeah it’s hard to win 10 games, but it’s hard to win nine games in this league there’s no question about it.”

Outside of any true chaos Saturday, and with many of the Power 4 conference championship contenders projected to make the field regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the 13-member College Football Playoff committee could ultimately be deciding between just four teams – Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina – for the Playoff’s final at-large bid.

Cristobal’s Hurricanes are limping into the postseason having lost two of its last three games after starting the season 9-0, including a 42-38 loss at Syracuse last weekend.

Beamer: ‘It’s hard to argue we’re not’ one of the 12 best

Meanwhile, Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina each boast strong 9-3 records with the Crimson Tide and Rebels holding a head-to-head advantage over the Gamecocks, a reality Beamer isn’t questioning.

“It’s three great teams – selfishly, I’d love for all three of us to get into the Playoff because I have great respect for those programs,” Beamer said. “And I get it, they beat us, no question about it. Nobody is denying that. … I know head-to-head matters, but I also know what we’ve done since then matters also.”

For Beamer, it comes down to the “eye-test” as the committee members evaluate which teams ultimately meet the Playoff’s mandate of determining the 12 best teams in college football. And to Beamer, there’s no doubt South Carolina is among that group.

“First of all, I know the committee has a really hard job. … And there’s a lot of deserving teams, don’t get me wrong, but I know what kind of conference we play in here in the SEC,” Beamer said. “And as far as our team goes, to me if the committee steps back and says: ‘Right now, at this moment, who are the 12 best teams in college football?’ It’s hard to argue we’re not one of them.”