After weeks of having only the AP Top 25 rankings, on Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff officially released their first rankings of the season and the first rankings of the new CFP 12-team era.
There was no surprise who was at the top as the Oregon Ducks remained No. 1, and the top 12 remained almost unchanged from the AP Top 25 top 12 with just two teams flipped. In the AP rankings, the Georgia Bulldogs were No. 2, and the Ohio State Buckeyes were No. 3, but the CFP had them reversed in their rankings.
The SEC ended up having eight teams ranked in the Top 25 and four teams ranked in the top 12 spots. While South Carolina has three losses in the season, there was some hope that the CFP would give them a little credit with their tough strength of schedule and their most recent win over No. 10 Texas A&M last week.
The Gamecocks have had quite the schedule this season, already facing four ranked opponents against which they have gone 1-3. They are about to face their fifth-ranked opponent, heading to Nashville to face Vanderbilt, who was also left out of the CFP rankings. South Carolina, in all, faces six or seven if Missouri stays in the rankings, ranked opponents this season, with a battle with in-state rival Clemson to finish off the season.
It doesn't seem like South Carolina is even on the radar of the CFP committee, but they might be able to force them to take notice if they win out the rest of the season. The final four games of the season are as follows for the Gamecocks:
- at Vanderbilt 11/9
- vs. Missouri 11/16
- vs. Wofford 11/23
- at Clemson 11/30
The AP has Vanderbilt and Clemson ranked right now, with Missouri sitting on the outside. The CFP has Missouri and Clemson ranked with Vanderbilt on the outside. Either way, if South Carolina can win out and finish the season 9-3 with their only losses coming from top 15 teams at the time, they can force the CFP to take notice of them.