What does a path to the playoff look like for South Carolina football?
——This is part of a summer series. Leading up to the start of South Carolina’s 2025 season, The State is answering 25 of the most interesting questions surrounding the Gamecocks football team. This is No. 5 ——
If one year of the 12-team College Football Playoff taught us one thing, it’s this: If an SEC team can finish the regular season with 10 wins, they’re in.
In 2024, that meant that Texas (11-1), Georgia (10-2) and Tennessee (10-2) all made the field, while their nine-win SEC counterparts — Alabama, Missouri, Ole Miss and South Carolina — were on the outside looking in.
Does that automatically mean that every nine-win SEC team going forward will miss the playoff? Absolutely not. Things can break weird. The SEC could beat up on itself one year. The selection committee could choose not to reward 11-win Big Ten teams that didn’t beat anyone. Who knows?
But the point stands: If an SEC team wins 10 regular-season games, it shouldn’t have to stress about making the playoff.
Which helps us simplify the question from “Can South Carolina make the College Football Playoff?” to “Can South Carolina win 10 games?”
OK, that’s easier to digest.
So .... can South Carolina win 10 games? Well, of course they can. Heck, if you want to ignore the butterfly effect, the Gamecocks were a blown call (or three) away from beating LSU in September, which would have boosted their win total to 10.
But let’s look at 2025. The most-clear path toward South Carolina winning 10 games involves just three steps.
1. Start 5-0 — which means beating Virginia Tech, South Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Kentucky. Easy enough.
2. Go undefeated at home. This a bit tougher but includes beating the aforementioned S.C. State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky as well as Alabama, Coastal Carolina and Clemson at Williams-Brice Stadium.
3. Win one tough road game. Some might include Missouri as one of those tough road games, but for our purposes “tough road games” are limited to at LSU, at Ole Miss and at Texas A&M. Win just one of those and the hope for a 10-win or 11-win season is alive.
That seems to be the most clear-cut path toward South Carolina winning 10 games and, thus, earning a spot in the 12-team playoff.
Are there other ways to 10 victories? Of course. The Gamecocks could trip up at home to, perhaps, Oklahoma or Alabama, but might get the best of Ole Miss and Texas A&M on the road and, voilà, they’re at 10 wins.
As we’ve written before, South Carolina on paper has one of the easiest schedules in the SEC. Time will tell if it works out that way. But, whichever way you cut it, if the Gamecocks can win 10 games, they’ll be playing meaningful games in December.
25 QUESTIONS FOR THE 2025 SEASON:
No. 25 — What South Carolina positions have the most question marks heading into season?
No. 24 — A Gamecocks victory over Va. Tech would be biggest season-opening win since when?
No. 23 — How will South Carolina’s QB room shake out in 2025 and beyond?
No. 22 — If USC beat Bama or LSU in ’24, would national conversation be different right now?
No. 21 — Can the Gamecocks’ offensive line take a step forward in 2025?
No. 20 — What former South Carolina football player will get his jersey retired next?
No. 19 — Can South Carolina get to the LSU game undefeated?
No. 18 — Will Fred Johnson be South Carolina’s next great LB?
No. 17 — What’s the most important stretch in USC’s 2025 schedule?
No. 16 — Can South Carolina’s defense stay elite despite all its roster turnover?
No. 15 — What South Carolina school records could be broken in 2025?
No. 14 — What’s the ceiling for USC’s running backs, with or without Rahsul Faison?
No. 13 — Can South Carolina’s special teams get back to Beamer Ball standard?
No. 12 — Have Gamecocks found right balance of high school football talent, transfers?
No. 11 — How will Shane Beamer go viral this year with South Carolina?
No. 10 — Is South Carolina too young at wide receiver?
No. 9 — Is this South Carolina’s easiest schedule in the Shane Beamer era?
No. 8 — Will there be noticeable changes in Mike Shula’s offense at South Carolina?
No. 7 — Can South Carolina football stay relatively healthy again in 2025?
No. 6 — Is this the last year for Williams-Brice Stadium as we know it?
No. 5 — What does a path to the playoff look like for South Carolina?
No. 4 — What happens if South Carolina football is no longer an underdog?
No. 3 — How would a 10-win season in 2025 shape Shane Beamer’s legacy in Columbia?
No. 2 — Can Dylan Stewart have a better season than Jadeveon Clowney did in 2012?
No. 1 — Can LaNorris Sellers become the best QB in South Carolina history?
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
