National writer includes South Carolina football in College Football Playoff field

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer and his team have changed the perception of their 2024 season in a drastic way. After a bad showing against Old Dominion in week 1 (one in which they still pulled off a win), the Gamecocks bounced back in a big way in a lopsided road win over the rival Kentucky Wildcats to become the first team ever to be in 1st place in the new division-less Southeastern Conference.

The Gamecocks are a better team than many gave them credit for after the first week of the season, but some have gone a bit too far and have overcorrected in their assessment of South Carolina.

In his "Forde-Yard Dash" column, SportsIllustrated's Pat Forde dropped his as-things-stand-today College Football Playoff teams, and the South Carolina Gamecocks made the cut. In Forde's projected Playoff field, the Gamecocks slotted in as the #10 team, matching up with the 7-seed Boston College Eagles.

It is important to note that Forde claims his weekly 12-team Playoff field is based upon current results only and does not factor in the rest of the schedule or what preseason expectations were for a team. That might sound all well and good (and South Carolina football fans don't mind hearing positive words about their favorite team), but that isn't a good way to "project" a postseason field.

While a College Football Playoff berth is not out of the realm of possibility for USC, Forde's inclusion of the Gamecocks in his field of 12 is extremely bold, and frankly, it's premature.

If South Carolina football is going to have a special season, they must navigate one of the most difficult stretches of schedule in the country over the next 7 weeks. With 6 games and a Bye, the Gamecocks have to play four teams that are currently ranked (and one team that was ranked last week), and all four of those squads are positioned inside the top-16 in the AP poll. Two of those games are also on the road.

The opportunity for bigger and better things for Carolina must begin this weekend as the LSU Tigers come to Williams-Brice Stadium with College GameDay (and all of the national attention that comes with it) in tow. The suddenly-very-interesting contest will kick at Noon ET and will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.