South Carolina positioned in top 20 in another preseason ranking

Most preseason rankings have been kind to South Carolina football. Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks have been inside the top 20 of most offseason prognostications, and CBS Sports’ preseason ranking continued that trend.

In the outlet’s ranking of all 136 FBS teams, South Carolina slotted in at No. 16.

The Gamecocks’ place in the ranking is the sixth-highest among SEC teams. The Texas Longhorns (1), Georgia Bulldogs (5), Alabama Crimson Tide (8), LSU Tigers (9), and Florida Gators (12) are ahead of USC.

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South Carolina will play against No. 4 (Clemson), No. 8 (Alabama), No. 9 (LSU), No. 18 (Texas A&M), No. 22 (Ole Miss), No. 24 (Oklahoma), No. 28 (Missouri), No. 47 (Vanderbilt), No. 48 (Virginia Tech), No. 57 (Kentucky), and No. 93 (Coastal Carolina); South Carolina State, the other team on the Gamecocks’ schedule, is an FCS team, so the Bulldogs were not part of the rankings.

Of the teams on the Carolina schedule, five of the six lowest-ranked teams come in the opening five weeks of the season. The Gamecocks will have an opportunity to ease into the 2025 schedule as they fight to make the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff.

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