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The South Carolina Gamecocks, led by head coach Shane Beamer, authored one of the most historic collapses in recent college football memory this past weekend against Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks took advantage of countless Aggies’ mistakes to take a 30-3 lead into the half against the No. 3 team in the country in their own stadium.
They then proceeded to give almost all of that lead away in the third quarter, going into the fourth quarter ahead just 30-24. Texas A&M then took a 31-30 lead early in the fourth quarter, and despite multiple attempts, South Carolina could not answer back, leading to a brutally embarrassing loss.
The loss was so bad that, coupled with Clemson’s equal mediocrity, ESPN has demoted the Palmetto Bowl to the SEC Network.
But Beamer’s confidence in himself, and his program, has not wavered.
Shane Beamer Guarantees South Carolina Is A CFP Contender In 2026
Last season, Beamer and the Gamecocks just missed out on the College Football Playoff after a strong close to the regular season.
That led to them being a trendy pick to make the playoffs this time around. Obviously, at 3-7, that isn’t going to happen. But what about next year?
On Tuesday, Beamer guaranteed that his team would be back in the hunt at this point in 2026.
“I do know next year at this time, we’re going to be sitting here on this Tuesday night, watching the playoff rankings to see where we are in (the) ranking show,” Beamer said during his weekly press conference.
You’ve got to love the optimism.
And hey, Beamer has to believe that. Or, at least, he has to convince the fans and the people who pay his salary of that. Otherwise, why is he still around?
But the evidence doesn’t really support his claim. In five seasons in South Carolina, Beamer is 32-29 and he’s never won more than nine games in a season. No nine-win team made the CFP last season. It doesn’t appear a nine-win team will qualify this season, either.
So, unless Beamer can do something that he’s never done before, I wouldn’t expect his proclamation to hold up a year from now.