Why is South Carolina ranked below Alabama, Ole Miss? CFP committee chair explains

South Carolina fans waited with angst as the ESPN broadcast began slowly revealing the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings.

All day, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was on a media barrage — telling anyone who would listen that his team deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff. That, though the Gamecocks (9-3) lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss, they were one of the hottest teams in the country. They had one of the nation’s toughest schedules. They had wins over three ranked teams. They did not have an ugly loss.

And, then, South Carolina’s name appeared at No. 14. Behind No. 13 Ole Miss (9-3), No. 12 Miami (10-2) and No. 11 Alabama (9-3).

The big question Tuesday night was how would the committee sort the trio of three-loss SEC teams.

More specific: Would South Carolina’s victory over No. 12 Clemson on Saturday be enough for the Gamecocks to jump Alabama and Ole Miss — which beat Auburn (5-7) and Mississippi State (2-10), respectively.

The committee’s answer: It was not enough.

On Tuesday night, College Football Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel’s conference call ended before he was asked a question related directly to South Carolina. But he was asked why Miami — which lacks a Top 25 victory — was ranked ahead of both Ole Miss and South Carolina.

“Obviously Mississippi is going to be ahead of South Carolina with the head-to-head (win and) the same record,” Manuel said. “As we evaluated them, that’s how the vote came out in terms of Miami, Mississippi and South Carolina.”

It seems the committee was unable to get past the Gamecocks’ head-to-head losses to Alabama and Ole Miss — despite the fact those were in early October and South Carolina has won its last six games.

As for the slim chance chaos could ensue and South Carolina could somehow make the field, Manuel said that’s impossible. He noted that the committee has already fully evaluated teams not playing in their conference championship games — and will not adjust the placement of squads not participating this weekend.

In other words, even if Clemson won the ACC title, the committee would not reward South Carolina for that.