SOUTH CAROLINA ADVANCES IN COMPOSITE POLL
After a one week absence, the University of South Carolina is back in the Top Ten … at least according to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings.
Can the Gamecocks stay there without star running back Marcus Lattimore, who suffered a devastating injury to his right knee during USC’s 38-35 win over the Tennessee Volunteers? That remains to be seen … although South Carolina did win five of its final six games a year ago after Lattimore suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee.
Despite a shaky performance against a team that hasn’t won a single conference game this season, head coach Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks (7-2, 5-2 SEC) climbed from No. 13 to No. 8 in the BCS. How’d they pull that off? Well for starters four teams ahead of them in the rankings – No. 7 Oregon State, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Southern Cal and No. 11 Mississippi State – all got beat.
So that helped …
South Carolina is ranked No. 11 according to both the Associated Press and USA Today/ Coaches’ polls.
As has been the case all season, the Southeastern Conference continues to dominate the rankings with five teams in the Top Ten – No. 1 Alabama, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Florida and No. 8 South Carolina. However with Florida’s loss to Georgia, Alabama is now the SEC’s only undefeated team – which means for the first time this season a non-SEC team, Kansas State, is currently in the No. 2 spot in the BCS.
The Wildcats – who have blown out a pair of Top 15 opponents in each of the last two weeks – have a pair of games remaining against ranked opponents (No. 24 Oklahoma State on Nov. 3 and No. 23 Texas on Dec. 1).
Due to its weak ACC schedule, Clemson (7-1, 4-1 ACC) is ranked No. 13 in the BCS poll. The Tigers – who whipped Wake Forest on Thursday night – are ranked No. 9 and No. 10 by USA Today and AP, respectively.
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BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES STANDINGS (October 28, 2012)
1. Alabama .9759
2. Kansas State .9400
3. Notre Dame .9147
4. Oregon .9136
5. LSU .8163
6. Georgia .7753
7. Florida .7604
8. South Carolina .5968
9. Florida State .5743
10. Louisville .5661
11. Oregon State .5559
12. Oklahoma .5454
13. Clemson .5095
14. Stanford .4863
15. Mississippi State .3913
16. Texas A&M .3593
17. USC .3509
18. Texas Tech .3242
19. Boise State .3123
20. Nebraska .2568
21. West Virginia .2512
22. Arizona .1692
23. Texas .1640
24. Oklahoma State .0893
25. Louisiana Tech .0784
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12 comments
And this really means what? Zero chance to play for NC. No chance for SEC.
Does this mean they might get better bowl than Outback IF they win out?
Robert we could be 10-2 and 5th overall. I’d say the cotton would love to have us and OU but if L$U is avaliable before us then they would probably take them. Real early but would could end up in Jacksonville at the Gator. Short ride=lots of fans
I see that ESPN projects Carolina either Gator or Sugar, but of course that is 9th week….they would need to win out.
Doubt a 9-3 Carolina gets BCS bid. And I know it means $$$$$.
Carolina hasn’t been to Gator since ’87 (I was there). That would be good trip for fans.
i went to that one as well the fog rolled in and engulfed the upper deck of the old Gator Bowl Wendell Davis and Tommy Hudson had a field day against us. Also went in 1984 and Thurmond Thomas ran all over us. Your right good trip
here kitty kitty kitty
jeffy boy, the point of your post in relation to the story is…?
chicken salad
BCS at large is still an option…provided the following…
USC wins out,
Bama beats LSU,
Florida St. beats Florida,
Bama beats Georgia,
Alot to count on, (which I don’t),but very possible. That leaves 4, 2-loss teams. Yes, USC would have lost to two of them, but we all know its better to lose early. That scenario would put us top 5 BCS….
Again, I DON’T SEE THIS HAPPENING, just a POSSIBLE scenario.
actually ESPN analyist Brad Edwards has his Bowl projections today for South Carolina in the Sugar bowl. All 4 of those scenerios are actually more likely than not. USC is very capapble of winning out, Bama should easily beat LSU, Florida St could indeed beat Florida (thats the only one that might not happen) and Bama would destroy UGA. If that happens USC moves up in BCS with a win over Clemson who would be top 10 by that time. That would put us no lower than 6 perhaps maybe higher if S.Cal beats Notre Damne. The real thing is for a reply to ROBERT from his no chance comment earlier up on the thread. USC isnt actually out of the SEC race yet. It highly unlikely but there is a slim chance Florida could get upset by Mizzou and either Ole Miss or Aurburn could also upset UGA. If that were to happen with the Gamecocks winning out then USC goes to Atlanta based on the tiebreaker. Florida would have 2 division losses so wouldn’t make it past scenerio 3 tiebreaker and SC has head to head vs the only other remaining team with 2 losses in UGA. More than likely it wont happen but tecnincally could. and ofcourse even more unlikely but still doable is USC beat Bama. Also remember Oregon, KState, and Notre dame play more games too and they could also lose 1. if they all lose it would be a 1 loss team (most likely oregon) vs a 2 loss SEC champand with wins over UGA and Bama to bump them into #2 Of cousre a one loss bama team could go back again too, but to say Zero chance isnt acurate. Likely but not acurate. In reality if USC does indeed go to atlanta they more than likely get beat by bama (who would beat 75% of the NFL teams), so no shot at higher than Gator that way. Back to SteveV the 4 scenerios you pointed out are alot more likely to happen amd also for the Gamecocks to go the Sugar. Sorry for spelling am on hold on the phone while typing.
Excellent post, billybilly. Thanks!
thats a lot billybilly but hey lets go for it all we can do is win our last 3 and let the chips fall. I just hope UGaY does not make it to Atl. Ole Miss is getting better by the week so we could see them beat the pups.
yeah it all wont happen but I was just trying to point out its not over yet. The BCS bowl is VERY much still an option however. If USC wins out they will be in the top 6 in the BCS and as long as not other SEC team is ahead of USC (other than who wins the SEC) we would get the spot. Bama should take care of UGA and LSU. Florida however might pull off the win instead of FSU. If that happens we would likely end up in either the Cotton, Capital One or Gator bowl. I hate to cheer for FSU but I just might have to. Of course if the Gamecocks dont win out it doesnt matter. All I know is both USC and Clemson have “an expert” projecting themn into a BCS bowl so now the game realy does mean somethingeven more. The only way either team gets there is to win out and get help from FSU. odd isnt it. that FSU holds both teams fate in thier hands to an extent?