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by WILL FOLKS
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For the first time in nearly a dozen years, South Carolina is back in the top ten – in one poll, anyway.
Head coach Shane Beamer‘s Gamecocks (1-0, 0-0 SEC) landed at No. 10 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll following their 24-11 season-opening win over unranked Virginia Tech. That’s a three-spot bump from their preseason ranking. South Carolina narrowly missed cracking the top ten (landing at No. 11) in the latest coaches’ poll, notching a two-spot uptick on that survey.
Both rankings are South Carolina’s highest since the 2014 preseason poll, in which the Gamecocks entered that year ranked No. 9 nationally in both the AP and coaches’ polls.
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SC Top 10 ? pic.twitter.com/yQbxtXvU8u
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) September 2, 2025
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While South Carolina is inching up in the rankings, Clemson – a perennial playoff contender – slid in the polls following its 17-10 defeat at the hands of then-No. 9 LSU. The Tigers (0-1, 0-0 ACC) dropped from No. 4 to No. 8 in the AP poll and from No. 6 to No. 8 in the coaches’ poll.
LSU, meanwhile, climbed from No. 9 in both polls to No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the coaches’ poll on the strength of its victory in Death Valley (or as it head coach Brian Kelly referred to it, “Death Valley Jr.”).
Like preseason No. 1 Texas and No. 5/6 Notre Dame, Clemson was one of three top ten teams to lose its season opener but remain ranked in the top ten in the first in-season poll. Texas was only the sixth preseason No. 1 to lose its first game – and the first to do so since 1990, when Miami fell to then-No. 16 BYU on the road in Provo, Utah.
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The Bayou Bengals joined Georgia – which was ranked No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 3 in the coaches’ poll – as the highest ranked Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams. Along with Texas and South Carolina, six other SEC programs made both polls: Florida (No. 13/15), Ole Miss (No. 14/20), Tennessee (No. 17/22), Texas A&M (No. 19/22) Alabama (No. 20/21) and Oklahoma (No. 18/24).
Alabama’s rankings were its lowest since the 2008 preseason poll had the Crimson Tide ranked No. 24.
Clemson was joined by three other Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) programs – No. 5/7 Miami, No. 14/19 Florida State and No. 16/17 SMU. Florida State began the season unranked but surged into the rankings courtesy of an upset win over Alabama.
Clemson plays the Seminoles at home on November 8, 2025 – one of three remaining games against ranked opponents. Meanwhile, South Carolina has six ranked opponents on its 2025 slate – including a brutal five-game stretch against LSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Since becoming South Carolina’s head coach ahead of the 2021 season, Beamer is 6-15 against ranked opponents.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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