Proposed College Football Playoff model would have included 2024 South Carolina Gamecocks
The 2024 version of the South Carolina football team was extremely close to making its first-ever College Football Playoff. Without any consideration for an officiating-altered contest against LSU, the Gamecocks’ 9-3 regular season put them as one of the first teams out when Selection Sunday rolled around in December.
However, with CFP expansion seemingly an inevitability, at least one proposed model would have included USC.
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Some proposed expansions include a 14-team Playoff, while others are focused on growing the field to 16. A “5+11” proposal most mirrors the current model, just with more overall teams vying for the title. The format–five automatic bids for the four highest-ranked conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion, plus eleven at-large bids from the next highest-rated teams, regardless of conference–would have put South Carolina in a hypothetical 16-team field.
In the 5+11 format, the Gamecocks would have earned the CFP’s No. 15 seed. As power conference champions, Oregon, Georgia, Clemson, and Arizona State would receive automatic bids. Boise State would have, too, as the highest-ranking conference champ from the Group of Five. Then, teams like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, and SMU would have made the field as at-large teams, just as they did this past winter. With this proposed expansion, South Carolina, Alabama, Miami, and Ole Miss would have rounded out the postseason invitations.
Some 5+11 thoughts include straight seeding, rather than rewarding conference champions with first-round byes. In a format that utilizes straight seeding, South Carolina would have earned a higher seed than the rival Clemson Tigers because of the team’s higher place in the final CFP rankings before the field was announced.
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Based on final pre-Playoff CFP rankings and a straight seeding format, the hypothetical field is listed below.
- Oregon Ducks
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Texas Longhorns
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Boise State Broncos
- SMU Mustangs
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Miami Hurricanes
- Ole Miss Rebels
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Clemson Tigers
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For the 2025 season, however, only 12 teams will compete for the CFP National Championship. To become one of those 12 teams, Shane Beamer and company will look to build off of their strong finish last fall and buck some historical trends along the way.
The road to a College Football Playoff berth begins in 53 days when South Carolina and Virginia Tech meet on Sunday, August 31st. The neutral-site contest will be in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and will kick off at 3:00 p.m. ESPN will broadcast the contest, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming.
