‘Beamer gets to play the no-respect card’ after USC’s Top 25 snub, national writer says

The Athletic’s Manny Navarro views South Carolina’s omission from the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll as a snub.

Clemson made the top 10, coming in at No. 9 with 1,078 points and no first-place votes. UNC is ranked No. 20 with 315 points. SEC teams ahead of USC include Georgia (No. 1), Alabama (No. 3), LSU (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 10), Ole Miss (No. 22) and Texas A&M (No. 25).

“Shane Beamer gets to play the no-respect card,” Navarro wrote. “After the Gamecocks beat Clemson and Tennessee at the end of last season, I thought for sure they would get more love in the preseason Top 25. Quarterback Spencer Rattler is one of six starters back on offense. They deserved the preseason nod ahead of Texas A&M instead of falling behind Iowa in the others receiving votes category.”

The Gamecocks received 89 votes, behind Iowa’s 169 and in front of Florida’s 63.

The preseason SEC Media Poll picked South Carolina to finish third in the SEC East, behind Georgia and Tennessee. USC received the same number of votes in the same poll as Texas A&M (1) to win the conference championship. Georgia received 181, Alabama got 162, LSU had 31 and Tennessee got five. Ole Miss received none.

Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll

1. Georgia

2. Michigan

3. Alabama

4. Ohio State

5. Louisiana State

6. Southern California

7. Penn State

8. Florida State

9. Clemson

10. Tennessee

11. Washington

12. Texas

13. Notre Dame

14. Utah

15. Oregon

16. Texas Christian

17. Kansas State

18. Oregon State

19. Oklahoma

20. North Carolina

21. Wisconsin

22. Mississippi

23. Tulane

24. Texas Tech

25. Texas A&M

Payton Titus

The State

Payton Titus is The State’s South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball beat writer. She also covers USC football and produces real-time/trending content. Titus is an APSE award winner and graduated from the University of Florida in 2023. Support my work with a digital subscription