Yahoo Sports South Carolina and Clemson both move up in latest CFP Top 25
After both schools needed late-game touchdown drives to score victories on Saturday, South Carolina and Clemson both moved up in this week’s College Football Playoff Rankings.
The Gamecocks (7-3, 5-3 SEC) came in at No. 18 in this week’s CFP rankings, up three spots from where the committee slotted them last Tuesday. It’s the highest they’ve ever been ranked in the 11-year history of the College Football Playoff; USC was ranked 19th in 2022 following its upset win over Clemson.
The Tigers, meanwhile, jumped to No. 17 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. Clemson (8-2, 7-1 ACC) were ranked 20th last week but needed a late touchdown to knock off Pitt.
“The committee feels that Clemson and South Carolina are very close to each other as it relates to how we see those two teams,” CFP selection committee chair and current Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said Tuesday night.
With no more conference games on its schedule, Clemson’s only hope for making the ACC Championship and/or the College Football Playoff hinges on the teams above it — SMU and Miami — losing down the stretch.
To this point, the Tigers have yet to beat a ranked opponent.
The same cannot be said for South Carolina, which has now beaten an AP-ranked squad in each of the past three weeks. After squeaking by No. 23 Missouri with a last-second score of their own, the Gamecocks are on a four-game winning streak and playing some of its best football of the Shane Beamer era.
That’s shown by its ranking. South Carolina is the committee’s highest-ranked three-loss team in the nation.
It’s all setting up a much-anticipated Palmetto Bowl on Nov. 30.
With South Carolina facing FCS Wofford and Clemson taking on FCS The Citadel, next Saturday will likely be the first time an AP ranked Gamecocks team faces a ranked AP Tigers squad since 2013.
Manuel, the CPF committee chair, was asked during his weekly post-rankings teleconference to compare Clemson and South Carolina’s résumés, considering they’ve been separated by a single spot in the rankings two weeks in a row.
Manuel indicated Clemson having fewer losses played a role.
“Well, both are coming off wins,” Manuel said Tuesday. “The win by Clemson and South Carolina’s win versus Missouri. The difference, as you can see, Clemson has lost two games. They bounced back from that Louisville loss and had back-to-back road wins against Virginia Tech and Pitt.”
“Significant loss to Georgia at the beginning of the season, but they’ve come back. (Quarterback) Cade Klubnik has really controlled the offense and done very well. That run to end the game against Pitt was phenomenal.”
“I just think they are playing good football, as well as South Carolina. So it’ll be interesting to see — as you can see, they’re very close.”
This is the first year of the highly anticipated 12-team College Football Playoff after the field operated with just four teams from 2014 to 2023.
In the new format, the top five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids to the playoff. Of those the top four highest-ranked conference champs get first-round byes and the remaining seven teams will be selected as at-large bids.
This is the second of five weekly rankings that will arrive each Tuesday before the CFP selection committee determines the final 12-team field on Selection Sunday (Dec. 8), the day after conference title games are completed.
CFP Top 25 third ranking
Oregon (11-0)
Ohio State ( 9-1)
Texas (9-1)
Penn State (9-1)
Indiana (10-0)
Notre Dame (9-1)
Alabama (8-2)
Miami (9-1)
Ole Miss (8-2)
Georgia (8-2)
Tennessee (8-1)
Boise State (9-1)
SMU (9-1)
BYU (9-1)
Texas A&M (8-2)
Colorado (8-2)
Clemson (8-2)
South Carolina (7-3)
Army (9-0)
Tulane (9-2)
Arizona State (8-2)
Iowa State (8-2)
Missouri (7-3)
UNLV (8-2)
Illinois (7-3)
