Last year, Shane Beamer told the media he and his team will be watching the College Football Playoff Ranking show to see where his team would be ranked when the show premiered.
Of course, the South Carolina Gamecocks weren’t ranked, as the back half of their season, for many reasons, spiraled out of control. The Gamecocks lost six of their last seven games to finish 4-8, their worst record in Beamer’s five years as head coach in Columbia.
As South Carolina gets set to host Kent State Saturday (12:45 p.m.) in its season opener, Beamer does not have any regret placing those kinds of expectations on his football program.
“I mean, I think every coach in America, that’s the expectation going into it and it should be here at South Carolina,” he said. “That does not mean that we’re going to be, you know, number one, number two, number three, or number four in the polls. I hope. But not necessarily.
“But I would hope that the expectation every year here, at South Carolina, is that you’re looking at the show to see kind of where you’re ranked and where in the mix you are.”
It does not mean Beamer is guaranteeing the Gamecocks will be in the playoff this year, either. It’s just their expectation, though the program has never been to the CFP or played in a major bowl game for that matter.
But that is not stopping them from believing they can get there.
“It was a ‘we certainly anticipate and expect to be in the mix.’ So no, I don’t regret that at all,” Beamer said. “I think every coach that coaches here, every player that plays here, they don’t come here to go 6-6 and just get bowl eligible. There are higher expectations here. There’s not a ceiling on this program.
“We’re trying to blow the lid off the ceiling, if you will. And our mindset and expectation every year is that’s the standard to win enough games to be in the mix for the playoff.”
Of course, that is easier said than done, especially this year. South Carolina has one of the toughest schedules in the country, as it travels to Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and Clemson, as well as hosts Tennessee, Texas A&M and Georgia.
“We got to go play really well and coach really well and we know what a gauntlet it is every week in (the SEC),” Beamer said. “But I absolutely don’t regret that at all. (Being in the CFP mix) is the expectation here at Carolina.”
–photo courtesy of South Carolina Athletics