Former BCS computer poll puts South Carolina among top 12
This time of year on the college football calendar is College Football Playoff debate season. Each week when the CFP Selection Committee releases their updated top 25, fans and pundits from across the country argue back and forth about which teams are real contenders. Now that the College Football Playoff field has increased to include 12 teams, the debate has never been bigger. On the periphery of that discussion are the South Carolina Gamecocks.
While it would take Shane Beamer’s team winning out PLUS a fair amount of losses from teams ahead of them in the CFP Rankings, the 18th-ranked Gamecocks hold onto a slight hope of a special postseason.
[GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days and 50% off first year]
There are a few ranking systems, though, that believe South Carolina should get a bigger look from the Committee.
One of those systems, the Sagarin Rankings, is a former BCS-era computer poll that considers USC to be the 11th-best team in college football.
Created by USA Today sports statistician Jeff Sagarin, many sports betting outlets use the Sagarin Rankings to establish betting lines. This is because the algorithm-based model utilizes both an overall ranking and a “strong recent” rating.
Top 10
- 1New
Bowl insurance
Historic policies for Hunter, Shedeur
- 2Hot
Nick Saban endorsed
Lane Kiffin suggests as commish
- 3
Diego Pavia
Vandy QB ruling forces change
- 4
Notre Dame takes shot
Announcer trolls Fighting Irish
- 5
Stephen A. Smith fires back
Beef with Kirk Herbstreit continues
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
This week’s Sagarin Rankings dropped the Gamecocks a little from last week, but South Carolina remains in the top 12 in both overall rating and strong recent rating as the No. 11 group nationally and No. 6 team in the SEC in the overall rankings and No. 11 national team and No. 5 SEC squad in strong recent rating.
South Carolina’s strong ranking makes sense in Sagarin’s algorithm. No other team has played more Sagarin top-30 teams and only two (Alabama and Georgia) have more top-30 wins. Carolina also owns the 5th-best strength of schedule according to Sagarin. The rankings place seven teams lower than the Gamecocks who are higher in the current CFP Rankings. Much of the discrepancy seems to stem from comparing these strengths of schedules and recent wins.
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
With an FCS opponent coming to Columbia, the Gamecocks’ Sagarin numbers likely won’t change much this weekend. However, the rival Clemson Tigers are up next on the schedule as USC finishes up the regular season. Clemson is 14th in these rankings, 13th in the strong recent metric, and 51st in overall strength of schedule.
This weekend, the Gamecocks will play their final home contest of the season. South Carolina will welcome the Wofford Terriers to Williams-Brice Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+. Wofford is No. 212 overall in the Sagarin Rankings, representing USC’s lowest-ranked opponent.
