South Carolina Football picked low in SEC standings by national outlet
By Kevin Miller
![South Carolina football Head Coach Shane Beamer and his team continue to be doubted despite improving every season. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F1de6675713d7ede3758bd41631575942384d69798469e4e1e26e7fc76e0e12da.jpg "South Carolina football Head Coach Shane Beamer and his team continue to be doubted despite improving every season. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]")
The offseason of varied expectations continues for South Carolina football. Some national outlets are picking the Gamecocks to finish in the top-3 of the SEC East and the top-5 of the conference as a whole. Others view Carolina’s end-of-year record to be in line with a team in the bottom chunk of the league.
A number of factors are at play when considering South Carolina football’s place in the SEC in 2023.
The Gamecocks are clearly on the rise as a program. A 2-win season in 2020 led to the dismissal of Will Muschamp, and the Shane Beamer-led Gamecocks increased their win total to 7 in 2021 and 8 in 2022. The culture surrounding the program and the recruiting plan seem to be improving, as well.
An unfortunate reality for the Gamecocks, though, is that they play one of the country’s hardest schedules every season. This is true again in 2023 as, based on 2022 success, South Carolina football will face the toughest overall schedule in the nation.
According to On3’s Jesse Simonton, Gamecock fans should expect that schedule to prove too much in Shane Beamer’s third year at the helm.
Simonton ranked South Carolina football as his 9th-best SEC team in his preseason power rankings.
Simonton’s full rankings are listed below:
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- LSU Tigers
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Kentucky Wildcats
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Auburn Tigers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Florida Gators
- Missouri Tigers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
It is worth noting that Simonton picked South Carolina football to finish 11th in the conference in 2022 (and 5th in the SEC East). The Gamecocks, instead, finished 3rd in the East and 5th overall in the league.
Even despite the difficult schedule that lies ahead for USC, another good finish could be in the cards this fall as improvement seems apparent.
Simonton disagrees, though, as he believes the Gamecocks offensive line turnover (two players to the NFL, one long-time starter to graduation, projected starter out with injury, and best blocking tight end to the NFL) will be too much to overcome for Spencer Rattler, Juice Wells, and the Carolina offense under new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains as they attempt to navigate a “brutal schedule” that includes 4 teams higher in his power rankings, plus Clemson and UNC.
The On3 national writer raises valid concerns, but Shane Beamer’s program has universally exceeded expectations in years 1 and 2 of his time in Columbia. The good news for Gamecock fans is that exceeding Simonton’s expectations in 2023 is a very real possibility, as well.