With no more games scheduled and South Carolina at the mercy of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, Gamecock fans’ primary focus is on rankings. The USA Today Coaches Poll and AP Poll slotted USC lower than needed to make the CFP field. Some national college football analysts, though, disagree and say Carolina will get into the 12-team field.
ESPN seems to be siding with the contingent that thinks the Gamecocks will not make the playoff.
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ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) now has South Carolina as the No. 14 team in America. The FPI gives Shane Beamer’s team the 11th-best strength of record in the country. However, that would not get USC into the CFP, either, as both the highest-ranked Group of 5 team (almost assuredly Boise State or UNLV) and the Big 12 champion (either Arizona State or Iowa State) are below the Gamecocks in that metric.
Among CFP hopefuls, only the Georgia Bulldogs have a better strength of schedule according to ESPN’s analytics. UGA is 3rd, and USC is 15th.
The Gamecocks are 16th in the FPI overall efficiency. That number stems from Carolina’s No. 42 offense and No. 6 defense. The team’s 64th-ranked special teams group isn’t weighted as heavily but is a factor.
As far as the College Football Playoff is concerned, ESPN gives South Carolina a 20.9% chance of cracking the field. That number matches the 21% shared by the outlet’s College Football Playoff Predictor. (For what it’s worth, the first simulation the system ran included the Gamecocks making the field as the 12-seed and then beating Notre Dame to advance to the second round before losing to SMU.)
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South Carolina football fans will get a better idea of their favorite team’s future soon. On Tuesday night, ESPN will air its final College Football Playoff Rankings show ahead of Selection Sunday. The Tuesday night show will begin at 7:00 p.m., and the Selection Sunday show will run for four hours from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Both shows also will be streamed on the ESPN app.
