‘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
Georgia
Michigan
Alabama
Ohio State
Louisiana State
Southern California
Penn State
Florida State
Clemson
Tennessee
Washington
Texas
Notre Dame
Utah
Oregon
Texas Christian
Kansas State
Oregon State
Oklahoma
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Mississippi
Tulane
Texas Tech
Texas A&M