Talking season quickly devolved into silly season. While the South Carolina Gamecocks may have a talented roster, this team threw up all over itself last fall. After narrowly missing out on the College Football Playoff two years ago, Shane Beamer's team could not even go bowling in 2025. That did not stop college football analyst David Pollack from gassing up the Gamecocks over on See Ball Get Ball.
As almost a matter of fact, Pollack argued the Gamecocks will definitely "be ranked at some point."
“They’re going to be ranked at some point. They’re going to be competitive in big games,” Pollack said.
This next part should have Clemson Tigers fans feeling a certain way about Pollack's commentary.
“They get a potential late-season surge; Beamer makes some Beamer Ball magic. Nine wins? Do they get there and get into the playoff conversation again? They were two years ago because of a lot of the guys that are still on the roster,” Pollack continued.
It does not matter that they have dudes, South Carolina is too wildly inconsistent to ever be trusted.
“You’ve got dudes, you’ve got ability, you’ve got game-changers,” Pollack finished. “You better watch the heck out, man. This is going to be one of those teams that surprises people.”
Per usual, Clemson will host its arch-rival at the end of the regular season. While South Carolina could bounce back from a disastrous 2025 campaign, the Gamecocks are not a serious SEC Championship contender. LaNorris Sellers, Dylan Stewart, and Nyck Harbor might all be problems to contain, but football is about a team, not a collection of individuals. Also, Shane Beamer is still this team's coach...
Keep in mind that Clemson beat South Carolina by multiple scores to win last year's Palmetto Bowl.
David Pollack is the latest CFB analyst to fall into the South Carolina trap
As difficult as it may be at times to discuss what the Gamecocks are about with logic, we know what they are as a football program. When things are going well for them, South Carolina can be a fringe, playoff-caliber team, one that will be in and around the top-12 teams in the country. When it hits the fan for the Gamecocks, they will circle the drain as one of the biggest disappointments in the SEC.
So what is it going to be for South Carolina this year? Given that Beamer is sitting on the hottest seat in his conference, they need to go bowling, and then some. While a nine-win season is not out of the question, the Gamecocks are not going to sneak up on anybody as they did two seasons ago. To put it simply, if South Carolina is going to live up to the hype, it must earn its keep and not take handouts.
Clemson fans know all too well who owns this rivalry. Yes, the Gamecocks will occasionally get one past the Tigers. It is the nature of the beast in any series worth its weight in salt. These sorts of things do happen. However, Beamer is the head coach who has proven to be more coordinator-dependent than Swinney is, as the quintessential CEO types who are dictating the terms in this massive rivalry.
ALSO READ: 5 inexcusable losses Dabo Swinney cannot afford to suffer this season leading Clemson
Ultimately, while Clemson would be foolish to overlook South Carolina, we cannot reasonably expect the Gamecocks to come out of the loaded SEC as one of four or five playoff teams. Frankly, they had the talent to do so a season ago, and totally blew it. To date, Clemson has made the playoffs seven times in 12 chances. South Carolina has never played in them, only one SEC title bout that one time.
Right now, Pollack getting ahead of himself with this South Carolina love has Clemson fans cackling.
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