Clemson outside of Top 10 in first major college football poll. Gamecocks get votes

Clemson has its lowest ranking in a decade.

And South Carolina, after a 5-7 season, is ... receiving votes?

Monday’s release of the 2024 preseason USA Today Coaches Poll included some interesting results for the state of South Carolina’s two power conference teams.

After going 9-4 and missing a third straight College Football Playoff, Clemson and coach Dabo Swinney came in at No. 14 in the top 25 poll. It’s the program’s first time outside of the coaches’ poll preseason top 10 since 2015 (No. 12) and lowest overall ranking since 2014 (No. 16).

Last year, Clemson debuted at No. 9 in the coaches poll and finished 20th.

South Carolina and coach Shane Beamer didn’t earn a preseason top 25 ranking after missing a bowl game in 2023. But the Gamecocks were among the teams receiving votes — a bit of a surprise, considering their 2023 struggles and the fact they lost their starting quarterback (Spencer Rattler) and top wide receiver (Xavier Legette) to the NFL.

South Carolina received 10 total voting points in Monday’s poll, which slotted USC 14th among teams receiving votes and 39th overall in the poll.

Other notable schools around the Gamecocks’ range in the “receiving votes” category: Liberty and Iowa State with 15 voting points apiece, Kentucky with 12, Florida with 11, North Carolina with 6 and UNLV and Maryland with five apiece.

In the 2023 preseason coaches poll, South Carolina also was not ranked but had the second-most points in the “receiving votes” category with 89 points and was functionally ranked No. 27.

Georgia was the preseason No. 1 in the 2024 coaches poll and got 46 of 55 first-place votes. Ohio State was No. 2 with 7 first place votes. Oregon, Texas and Alabama rounded out the top five, in order.

The 2024 coaches poll will be voted on weekly by a panel of 55 FBS head coaches, who were chosen from “a pool of coaches willing to participate,” according to a new release. Neither Swinney nor Beamer is listed as a voter for 2024.

The poll is published weekly, and each coach’s final poll (which factors in all postseason games, including the College Football Playoff) is made public at the end of the season in January.

The other major college football poll, the Associated Press Top 25, will release its preseason poll next Monday (Aug. 12) at noon.

2024 CFB preseason coaches poll

55 total voters

1. Georgia (46 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State (7)
3. Oregon
4. Texas (1)
5. Alabama
6. Ole Miss
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan (1)
9. Penn State
10. Florida State
11. Missouri
12. LSU
13. Utah
14. Clemson
15. Tennessee
16. Oklahoma
17. Kansas State
18. Oklahoma State
19. Miami
20. Texas A&M
21. Arizona
22. NC State
23. Southern Cal
24. Kansas
25. Iowa

Others receiving votes: Washington (123), Louisville (95), Virginia Tech (64), SMU (47), Memphis (44), Boise State (30), Auburn (25), West Virginia (22), Wisconsin (17), Liberty (15), Iowa State (15), Kentucky (12), Florida (11), South Carolina (10), North Carolina (6), UNLV (5), Maryland (5), UCF (4), Texas Tech (4), UTSA (3), Tulane (2), Texas State (2), Nebraska (2), Colorado (2), Appalachian State (2), Troy (1), Syracuse (1), Miami Ohio (1), James Madison (1), Air Force (1)

This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 12:21 PM.

Chapel Fowler

The State

Chapel Fowler, the NSMA’s 2024 South Carolina Sportswriter of the Year, has covered Clemson football and other topics for The State since summer 2022. His work’s also been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the South Carolina Press Association and the North Carolina Press Association. He’s a Denver, N.C., native, a UNC-Chapel Hill alum and a pickup basketball enthusiast. Support my work with a digital subscription