It's another great day as we are getting closer to the start of the 2025 College Football season. The reason why? The preseason polls are being revealed across college football, marking another offseason checkpoint completed. The Coach's Poll, according to USA Today, ranked the South Carolina Gamecocks at No. 13 going into the 2025 season. A high mark for Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks as they look to build off their 9-3 season, before their bowl game, and make a run for the CFP this upcoming campaign.
However, On3's Brett McMurphy has the Gamecocks on the outside looking in, while Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports College Football has them within the Top 25. When it comes to the preseason, why does it feel like people cannot nail down a spot for the Gamecocks going into 2025?
According to McMurphy's Top 25 ranking, when it comes to his preseason poll, he leaves off the Gamecocks. Instead, he has the Texas Tech Red Raiders (23), Indiana Hoosiers (24), and the Louisville Cardinals (25) in the last three spots in his poll. Furthermore, he even has the other USC team, the second-ever USC school, to make it clear, at 22. Leaving off the 9-4 Gamecocks outside of the preseason poll makes you wonder what McMurphy feels about Beamer's team, which is getting more recognition across college football.
BREAKING: College Football Preseason Coaches Poll👀https://t.co/UOHDaVDFxk pic.twitter.com/ouboz88vXu
— On3 (@On3sports) August 4, 2025
Even CBS Sports' Marcello has the Gamecocks at No. 21 according to his Top 30 preseason ranking. It seems that consensus is trying to figure out where the Gamecocks stand in the landscape of college football following their six-game winning streak last season, heading into their bowl game. Now with LaNorris Sellers, Nyck Harbor, Dylan Stewart, DQ Smith, Jalon Kilgore, and others getting some preseason hype, CFB writers and coaches are trying to find a spot for Carolina.
It's interesting to see where to place the Gamecocks in the Top 25 rankings, for a team which are poised for a nine, more so a 10-win season and a spot within the CFP. Either way, it's good to be a team that's hard to pin down, but one that is making a ton of noise heading into 2025. It does not matter whether it's 13, 21, or 25; the Gamecocks should be ranked heading into the season and are a team to worry about.
Come August 31 in Atlanta, watch out for the Gamecocks to prove why they are a CFP team and one to worry about playing against, no matter if at Williams-Brice or on the road. Is it football season yet?