Where the Gamecocks landed in ESPN’s preseason rankings

The Worldwide Leader in Sports has South Carolina on the very edge of its preseason power rankings.

ESPN released its first edition of the 2018 college football rankings on Wednesday, and the Gamecocks checked in at No. 25.

“The Gamecocks, not the Gators, could become the No. 1 challenger to Georgia in the SEC’s East Division,” analyst Alex Scarborough wrote of USC, pointing to the the usual suspects of quarterback Jake Bentley and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards as the biggest strengths of coach Will Muschamp’s squad.

Carolina was also included in Sporting News’ preseason rankings Tuesday and checked in at No. 25 in ESPN’s previous ‘Way-Too-Early’ rankings, but was not included in ESPN’s power rankings at the end of last season.

The Associated Press preseason poll comes out Aug. 20.

South Carolina is coming off a 9-4 season capped by an upset win against Michigan in the Outback Bowl. The team returns eight starters on offense and players like Rashad Fenton, Javon Kinlaw and D.J. Wonnum on defense.

Multiple national voices have said they expect the Gamecocks to win nine or 10 games in the regular season. They improves from three wins in 2015 to six the next year and then nine.

USC opens the season Sept. 1 against Coastal Carolina at noon in Williams-Brice Stadium.