South Carolina makes top 12 again in former BCS poll
South Carolina might be the hottest team in college football. The Gamecocks have the longest active winning streak in the SEC, and with a victory in the annual rivalry contest against the Clemson Tigers this Saturday, Carolina will finish the regular season riding an impressive 6-game streak that includes four ranked wins, three road triumphs, and a 5-0 record against bowl-eligible squads.
The College Football Playoff is so close that South Carolina football fans can taste it. With a good win over their rivals from the Upstate and, perhaps, a little bit of help, the Gamecocks could find themselves in the 12-team field. As of now, USC is 15th in the College Football Playoff Rankings. However, beating Clemson would remove one team above the Gamecocks, and Miami and SMU (ranked 6th and 9th) are on pace to play in the ACC Championship Game, guaranteeing a loss for one of them.
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While the CFP Selection Committee has the Gamecocks just outside of their top 12, some ranking systems like Carolina more. In fact, one former BCS-era computer poll has ranked Shane Beamer’s team favorably for quite a while.
This week’s Sagarin Rankings, a computer-based ranking from USA Today writer Jeff Sagarin, put the Gamecocks at No. 12. USC has been positioned inside the Sagarin top 12 for several weeks.
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After this weekend, South Carolina will be one of just six teams in the country to play seven games against Sagarin top-30 teams. A Gamecock win also would make them one of just three with at least four victories in those top-30 games. Those numbers are buoyed by a top-20 strength of schedule.
The Sagarin Rankings combine both a team’s overall resume and how well they are playing lately. The Gamecocks are 13th in the Sagarain “Strong Recent” ranking. Despite a heavy ding for playing FCS Wofford last week, South Carolina has one of the most impressive recent resumes, something the computer model thinks highly as it evaluates a team’s ability to win games. Because of this, Sagarin’s predictive model says USC is the 11th-best team in the country moving forward.
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This weekend will represent South Carolina’s final chance to improve their resume and climb in all the rankings. The Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers will take the field at Memorial Stadium for a noon kickoff. ESPN will broadcast the game, and the ESPN app will make it available for streaming. Carolina won the previous meeting in the Upstate, a 31-30 win that eliminated the Tigers from 4-team College Football Playoff at the end of the 2022 regular season.
