South Carolina football lands two spots outside top 25 in preseason USA TODAY coaches poll
COLUMBIA — After finishing last season No. 23 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, South Carolina football finished just two spots shy of the Top 25 in the 2023 preseason poll.
The Gamecocks received 89 votes, coming in behind Iowa with 169 and No. 25 Texas A&M with 196. South Carolina has not been ranked in the preseason coaches poll since be ranked No. 9 in 2014-15. The program received five preseason votes in 2022, but it last ranked inside the top 30 with 138 votes in 2018-19.
South Carolina earned its highest ranking in the coaches' poll since 2014 at No. 20 after back-to-back upsets of No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson at the end of the 2022 regular season. The upsets also gave the Gamecocks their highest ranking since 2014 in the Associated Press poll and their highest ranking ever by the College Football Playoff.
The Gamecocks finished 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the SEC last season, dropping to No. 23 in the coaches' poll after losing to Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. The Irish enter 2023 ranked No. 13 in the coaches' poll. Six SEC teams also landed in the preseason Top 25: No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 LSU, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 25 Texas A&M. In-state rival Clemson is No. 9.
South Carolina returns star quarterback Spencer Rattler and top wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr. in 2023, though the team is grappling with significant losses on defense and a lack of depth at running back. The Gamecocks also brought in new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who coached for 16 years in the NFL before spending the last two seasons as tight ends coach at Arkansas.
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Entering his third year at the helm of the program, coach Shane Beamer brought in South Carolina's highest-rated recruiting class since 2012 in 2023. The Gamecocks' No. 16 class features five-star wide receiver Nyckoles Harbor — Beamer's first five-star signee — and four of the top seven prospects in the Palmetto State. He also added 10 transfers, headlined by Arkansas tight end Trey Knox.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football unranked in preseason USA TODAY coaches poll
