Former coach, national voice: ‘How South Carolina is not ranked, I have no idea’

Tom Luginbill hasn’t been shy with his opinions about South Carolina’s football team.

The former XFL coach and ESPN analyst compared USC’s new tempo to Oregon and said freshman quarterback Dakereon Joyner should probably change positions.

And after the Gamecocks came up at No. 26 in the second big national top-25 poll, he had some thoughts as well.

“How South Carolina is not ranked, I have no idea,” Luginbill said on an SEC Network segment. “Even if you were to put them 21 to 25. I would have put them 17 to 22 and let them get a win if they can get it versus Georgia, and then, off they go. But there’s a lot of components that are really strong for this team that are back.”

The Gamecocks are coming off a 9-4 season that was capped by an upset of Michigan in the Outback Bowl. They return eight offensive starters, have a new coordinator and still have a defense in the hands of Will Muschamp and Travaris Robinson.

USC opens the season on Sept. 1 in Williams-Brice against Coastal Carolina.

Luginbill was asked which SEC team, inside the top 25 or outside of it wasn’t getting enough respect (he’d said LSU was getting too much) and he stood up for the Gamecocks.

“South Carolina without question in my mind,” Luginbill said. “I’m a big schedule guy — who you play, when do you play and where do you play, and when you look at this team coming off of nine wins, a big bowl win versus Michigan a year ago, virtually their roster returning intact, improvement along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, and then, the schedule. No Alabama, no Auburn, no LSU out of the West, and you get Georgia Week 2 at home.”