SerpApi.Org
Following a disappointing showing in 2025, the 2026 edition of South Carolina football appears destined for a much better year.
One national analyst (and his analytics model) slots the Gamecocks in as a top-25 team this preseason.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly published his preseason SP+ rankings, and the Gamecocks checked in at No. 25 overall. That is good for 11th in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia (4), Texas (6), Texas A&M (9), LSU (10), Alabama (11), Oklahoma (12), Ole Miss (15), Tennessee (16), Missouri (19), and Florida (20) are ahead of USC.
SP+ is a projection, not merely a ranking of what a team has accomplished. Connelly explains, “SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren’t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather.”
SP+ weighs returning production, recent history, recent recruiting, and coaching change effects to create preseason and offseason rankings.
The Gamecocks’ top-25 spot came with an offensive efficiency of 43rd overall. Carolina is 21st in defensive efficiency and 19th in special teams efficiency. That puts USC 14th in the league on offense, 10th on defense, and fifth on special teams.
Connelly’s model predicts an average conference win total for South Carolina of 4.2. That means that SP+ likes the Gamecocks to go 4-5 or 5-4 in SEC play in the majority of its predictions. The model predicts bowl-eligibility coming at a 76.3% clip.
A little tongue-in-cheek, Connelly said, “It’s possible that ‘It’s an even-numbered year, therefore South Carolina will be good’ is all the analysis you need” when discussing Shane Beamer’s team. The Gamecocks won eight games in 2022 and then nine games in 2024.
However, Connelly likes the 2026 team’s upgrades from the offseason, both regarding the coaching staff and on-field personnel.
He specifically noted the hire of Kendal Briles at offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and transfer portal additions Christian Clark, DJ Black, Nitro Tuggle, Tomiwa Durojaiye, Caleb Herring, Kelby Collins, and the huge haul on the offensive line.
Connelly shouted out returning players like LaNorris Sellers, Nyck Harbor, Dylan Stewart, Justin Okoronkwo, Peyton Williams, and Vicari Swain, too. He called the Sellers-Harbor quarterback-receiver duo “the most intimidating pitch-and-catch combination in the country.”
What do you think? Join the discussion on The Insiders Forum.
Earlier this offseason, Connelly slotted South Carolina in as the No. 24 overall team. He also labeled Shane Beamer’s team (twice) as one that should be much improved.
He also previously listed the Gamecocks among his top-five teams nationally in returning production.
