The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night and South Carolina landed at No. 21.
The Gamecocks (5-3, 3-3) have won three straight in the SEC, starting last month at No. 24 Florida (5-3, 3-3). Two weeks later followed a home victory against No. 13 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2). Last weekend’s triumph at Oklahoma (4-4, 2-3) helped consolidate a place in the Top 25 for Shane Beamer & Co.
Their losses are at home against No. 6 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) and unranked Mississippi State (4-4, 2-4). South Carolina lost to Alabama (6-2, 4-2), which is currently in 5th place.
College Football Playoff rankings: Committee sends clear message about SEC and head-to-head matchups
“We don’t penalize teams too much for losses to teams that we really like,” CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said in a conference call Tuesday evening.
Asked about the possibility of a three-loss team making the playoffs, Yurachek said: “There’s a certain number of football games left to be played. I can’t look into a crystal ball and tell you at the end of this in four weeks, five weeks and tell you where the three-loss teams are going to be. … There’s still a lot of football to be played and a lot of change with these rankings coming up.”
On the ESPN broadcast, Yurachek acknowledged that Mississippi State was considered a quality team when they played Alabama. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks played two weeks before the game Yurachek alluded to when speaking with Rece Davis.
Next up for South Carolina is a home date with Texas A&M (4-4, 1-4) this weekend before another road trip to Arkansas (3-5, 1-4). The final SEC game will be at home against No. 2 ranked Georgia (7-1, 5-1). And of course, the season ends against Clemson (5-3).
“If LaNorris Sellers continues to play the football like he has the last three weeks, he looks like the best quarterback in the country,” ESPN analyst Joey Galloway said when the rankings were released.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, Beamer said this time of year is expected to be classified.
“If anyone in our program didn’t expect to be in the Top 25 at this point, they’re probably in the wrong place, because that’s the expectation you want,” Beamer said.
Four other SEC teams are ranked ahead of the Gamecocks…
No. 7 Texas (6-2, 3-2)
No. 10 Ole Miss (6-2, 4-2)
No. 14 LSU (6-2, 3-2)
No. 18 Missouri (6-2, 3-2)
The other teams in the top four along with Georgia are Miami (1), Utah (3) and Indiana (4). Based on the current rankings, first-round games would include Alabama taking on No. 12 Boise State, Kentucky with a home game against No. 11 Notre Dame and Texas hosting Ole Miss.
Excerpt from the GamecocksOnline press release on South Carolina’s place in the CFP rankings…
When teams appear comparable, members apply the following four principles:
Strength of schedule: who a team played against, not just whether they won.
Head-to-head results: If two teams meet, this result attracts additional consideration.
Results against common opponents: How each performed against common opponents, without rewarding increased score.
Other relevant factors: such as injuries to key players or unavailability of a coach that have affected a team’s season or will affect its playoff run.
The CFP selection committee will then meet on November 9 and 10. Its next set of rankings will be revealed on Tuesday, November 10 around 9 p.m. ET live on ESPN and the ESPN app.
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