Shane Beamer's South Carolina football team is 3-1 and just a couple of controversial officiating decisions away from being 4-0 with two quality SEC wins. However, the Gamecocks are not in the top-25 rankings published by the Associated Press or USA Today (the Coaches Poll).
After a wild day of college football (one that made the Gamecocks' thrashing of the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington earlier this season look even better), Carolina only received enough love from the AP Poll voters to receive 8 points in the "Also Receiving Votes" section that comes after the top-25. The Coaches Poll is even lower on the Gamecocks, granting the garnet and black just one voter point.
Some ranking systems do value Carolina as a top-25 team. Both the KelleyFord Ratings and ESPN's FPI have USC ranked 25th in the country, and the FPI values the Gamecock defense as the 7th-best in the entire country.
Regardless of the team's positioning in this week's rankings, the South Carolina Gamecocks have a huge opportunity ahead of them this weekend to push themselves into a prominent spot in every rankings. With the Ole Miss Rebels (still ranked inside the top-12 following a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats) coming to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, the 'Cocks will face off with a very good but beatable team.
A victory over the Rebels (and former Gamecock wide receiver Juice Wells) would push South Carolina football's 2024 record to 4-1 and give them two very impressive wins. Surely then the Gamecocks would find themselves ranked inside the top-25 for the first time since the end of the 2022 campaign.
The matchup between the Gamecocks and Rebels will begin at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday, October 5th. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and will be streamed on the ESPN app.