Where South Carolina landed in final SP+ preseason rankings
The preseason polls are out, and now the final real projection and ranking, before South Carolina’s season starts, is out.
ESPN and Bill Connelly released the updated and final SP+ rankings this week ahead of the season starting with the Gamecocks sitting a few spots out of the top 25 this preseason.
South Carolina checks in at No. 33 in the final preseason update to the SP+, eight spots behind its season-opening opponent in North Carolina (No. 25).
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The Gamecocks come in at No. 12 overall in the SEC ahead of Missouri (35) and Vanderbilt. Here’s how the rest of the SEC shakes out:
TeamPreseason rankingOffenseDefenseDifference (O-D)SOSGeorgia162445Alabama4411-76LSU51014-411Tennessee6332-2916Texas A&M16443414Ole Miss181728-113Florida232541-161Kentucky246165513Auburn263824145Mississippi State293136-515Arkansas301959-408South Carolina332161-402Missouri3552193310Vanderbilt7663106-4314
SP+ also projects the Gamecocks to win 6.2 games this season with a projected 3.5 conference wins. That is the second-lowest projected wins of an SEC team ahead of Vanderbilt at 3.6.
Auburn (6.9 wins), Mississippi State (6.9), Arkansas (6.8), Florida (6.5) and Missouri (6.3) are the other SEC teams outside of South Carolina projected to win fewer than seven games. Of those, five are projected to win fewer SEC games than the Gamecocks: Auburn (3.3), Missouri (3.3), Mississippi State (3.2), Arkansas (3.1) and Vanderbilt (1).
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With so many teams, it seems, in the middle of the SEC pack, the margins for South Carolina to win six or even eight or nine games are incredibly small.
Connelly’s system has South Carolina as the No. 21 offense in the country heading into the preseason but the No. 61 overall defense. That would rank as the SEC’s seventh-best offense entering the preseason behind Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Arkansas.
It would be the league’s second-lowest defense ahead of Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks should have a host of high-level skill talent offneisvely while also returning entrenched starter Spencer Rattler. That, mixed with a new system under Dowell Loggains, should contribute to a step forward offensively.
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Defensively, the Gamecocks certainly have the capabilities of being a good unit but have to answer questions at the EDGE position and replace the production of guys like Zacch Pickens, Jordan Burch, Cam Smith, Darius Rush and others.
SP+ has the Gamecocks’ schedule as the second-hardest in the SEC and in the nation behind only Florida. Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Auburn round out the top five hardest schedules nationally.
According to Connelly, South Carolina returns 59 percent of production from last season, tied for the 74th-highest in the country. The Gamecocks return 66 percent offensively (52nd highest) and 52 percent defensively (93rd highest).
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Outside of the SEC, South Carolina will play No. 25 North Carolina with the Tar Heels coming in as the No. 16 offense nationally and the No. 57 overall defense in the preseason SP+ rankings.
The Gamecocks also play Clemson to end the year with the Tigers checking in at No. 7 in the preseason with the No. 14 offense and the No. 8 overall defense. Neither of the ACC opponents have strength of schedules inside the top 50 nationally.
The only other FBS opponent South Carolina has on the schedule is Jacksonville State, which checks in at No. 123 nationally (No. 90 offense, No. 132 defense).
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