National analyst predicts South Carolina to make College Football Playoff
With Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team on a five-game winning streak and much of the top 20 losing last weekend, the path to the College Football Playoff has never been clearer for the Gamecocks. If USC beats the rival Clemson Tigers on Saturday and gets just a little bit of help, a spot in the 12-team field could belong to the garnet and black.
Speculation, hope, and even optimism have dominated the recent conversation among Gamecock fans. Because South Carolina has needed some outside help, doubt has remained. However, with each victory, the hype has grown. Could South Carolina actually make the first 12-team College Football Playoff?
National college football analyst Adam Breneman seems to think it’s going to happen.
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He also did the Gamecock fanbase a service by explaining his rationale. According to Breneman, South Carolina will knock off Clemson this weekend, Miami or Clemson will lose to SMU in the ACC Championship Game (either way, Miami gets a second loss and SMU wins the league), Texas A&M will get eliminated with a loss to Texas, and Ole Miss and Alabama will be left out in favor of a superior 3-loss SEC team in the Gamecocks.
In Breneman’s projection, Carolina will match up with the 5th-seed Oregon Ducks (who he predicts will lose in the BIG Ten Championship Game to Ohio State) in Eugene in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The meeting would be the first ever between the two programs on the gridiron.
As Breneman says, South Carolina has “a great resume” and could get the nod following a win over Clemson. Riding what would be a six-game winning streak, the Gamecocks then would be 9-3 with one of their losses (LSU) coming in extremely controversial fashion. It would be difficult for the committee to keep out the country’s hottest team in that scenario.
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The updated College Football Playoff Rankings are set to come out on Tuesday night. How the CFP Selection Committee positions USC (especially in relation to Alabama and Ole Miss) will be important. However, heading into Rivalry Week, the Gamecocks have an opportunity for a more impressive win. This year’s editions of the Iron Bowl and Egg Bowl are not ranked-vs.-ranked matchups like the Palmetto Bowl.
None of the hypotheticals matter, though, until South Carolina beats Clemson. A loss would eliminate the Gamecocks completely from the discussion. Making matters worse for USC, a win keeps Clemson in the at-large discussion. This Saturday could be the most consequential game in rivalry history when considering the stakes for both teams involved.
The Gamecocks and Tigers will kick off at noon on Saturday. ESPN will broadcast the game, and the ESPN app will make it available for streaming.
