South Carolina climbs into Top 10. Clemson drops in rankings
South Carolina and Clemson football both found themselves moving in this week’s Top 25 polls after some shake-up in the top 10.
Shane Beamer and the USC Gamecocks moved up three spots to No. 10 in the new Associated Press Top 25 and up two spots to No. 11 in this week’s USA Today Top 25 after a 24-11 win over Virginia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday.
This is the first time South Carolina is ranked in the top 10 since being ranked No. 9 in the 2014 AP preseason poll. The last time South Carolina was ranked in the top 10 during the season came in the final two weeks of the 2013 season when the Gamecocks were ranked No. 8.
Dabo Swinney and the Tigers fell from No. 4 to No. 8 in the AP poll and from No. 6 to No. 8 in the USA Today ranking after a 17-10 loss to LSU. And LSU moved up from No. 9 to No. 3 in the AP Top 25.
This is the first time since November 2013 that both South Carolina and Clemson are ranked in the top 10.
Clemson was one of three teams in the top 10 to lose in Week 1. Notre Dame lost to a top 10 team in Miami and Alabama lost to an unranked Florida State. No. 1 Texas lost to No. 3 Ohio State.
Both South Carolina and Clemson are at home in Week Two. The Gamecocks will play S.C. State at 7 p.m. Saturday, and the Tigers will play Troy at 3:30 p.m.
AP Top 25 Rankings (as of Sept. 2)
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. LSU
4. Georgia
5. Miami
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Clemson
9. Notre Dame
10. South Carolina
11. Illinois
12. Arizona State
13. Florida
14. Florida State
15. Michigan.
16. Iowa State
17. SMU
18. Oklahoma
19. Texas A&M
20. Ole Miss
21. Alabama
22. Tennessee
23. Indiana
24. Texas Tech
25. Utah
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM.
