The South Carolina Gamecocks made their debut in the College Football Playoff rankings last night, checking in at No. 24.
On one hand, this is kind of cool! South Carolina hit rock bottom the same year the playoff system started, so the Gamecocks haven’t landed in rankings of any kind since 2014 — much less the official playoff poll. For some fans, this is probably a nice validation of how the program has been progressively digging itself out of its post-Spurrier hole. Will Muschamp has been doing a nice job while largely flying under the radar, so there’s nothing wrong with a little recognition.