South Carolina football lands two spots out of top 25 in Associated Press preseason poll
COLUMBIA — After finishing the 2022 season ranked No. 23, South Carolina football came in just two spots outside the top 25 in the 2023 preseason Associated Press poll.
The Gamecocks received 73 votes in the preseason poll behind Texas Tech with 101 and No. 25 Iowa with 131. South Carolina did not earn a preseason ranking in the USA TODAY coaches' poll either, though it also received the second-most votes among unranked teams behind Iowa.
South Carolina earned its highest ranking in the AP 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 USA TODAY coaches poll and their highest ranking ever by the College Football Playoff.
PRESEASON SCRIMMAGE: South Carolina football's first scrimmage takeaways including Nyckoles Harbor getting first-team reps
Six SEC teams made it into the AP top 25: No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 LSU, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 23 Texas A&M. In-state rival Clemson sits at No. 9. The Gamecocks were predicted to finish third in the SEC East in the preseason media poll after going 8-5 overall and 4-4 in-conference last year.
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 hired 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.
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 narrowly misses top 25 in preseason AP poll
