Is it too early to crack the champagne? South Carolina football has officially landed at No. 13 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll ahead of the 2025 college football season. Released Monday morning, the preseason rankings offer the first national snapshot of how programs are viewed entering the fall. The Gamecocks are sitting comfortably in the Top 15, among some of the nation's top program. This is one of South Carolina's highest preseason rankings in recent memory and comes as Shane Beamer era continues to generate national buzz.
Coming off a 9-4 season campaign, South Carolina has reloaded with talent on both sides of the ball and built a roster centered around rising superstar quarterback LaNorris Sellers. The Gamecocks squad also boasts playmakers like Nyck Harbor, one of the fastest and most explosive receivers in college football, and a defense that showed major strides in the second half of the 2024 season.
The No. 13 ranking places South Carolina ahead of programs like Michigan (No. 14), Ole Miss (No.15), Florida (No.17), and Tennessee (No. 18). Only four SEC teams, Texas (No. 1), Georgia (No. 4), Alabama (No. 8), and LSU (No. 9), rank higher, signaling that South Carolina is finally gaining recognition as a serious contender in the Southeastern Conference.
South Carolina's spot in the Top 15 adds even more weight to a 2025 schedule that includes marquee matchups, including the season opener against Virginia Tech in the Aflac Kickoff Game and high-stakes conference battles against LSU, Oklahoma, and Alabama, among others.
But the preseason rankings are just that, preseason. They don't just win games, and of course they don't guarantee playoff appearances. But they do set the tone, however. And this year, the tone is crystal clear: South Carolina is no longer flying under the radar. They have arrived.
Full Top 25 (via USA TODAY Coaches Poll) can be found here.
BREAKING: College Football Preseason Coaches Poll👀https://t.co/UOHDaVDFxk pic.twitter.com/ouboz88vXu
— On3 (@On3sports) August 4, 2025