South Carolina Gamecocks 9th In Preseason AP Poll

Eleven days from the kickoff of the 2014 college football season brings us the initial AP top 25 poll, and the South Carolina Gamecocks have been picked 9th.

It’s in line with the coaches’ poll that came out a few weeks ago that also had the Gamecocks ninth. Defending champs Florida State were picked first. Alabama (2nd), Auburn (6th), Georgia (12th), LSU (13th), Ole Miss (18th), Texas A&M (21st), and Missouri (24th) were the other SEC teams in the poll; not surprisingly, the SEC placed more teams in the top 25 than any other conference. (Clemson, by the way, was 16th.)

Ninth seems about right for the Gamecocks. It was clear that FSU and Alabama were going to be named the top two teams in the country, and given the expectation for several of the Pac-12 schools as well as Ohio State (who should be strongly in the conversation for spot in the playoff), at worst a top-10 spot would be a good start. They have a shot at moving up right away with a win over the Aggies on the 28th.