Sports

South Carolina Fan Questions Brett McMurphy’s Sanity In Salty Email After Drastic Top 25 Change

#College Football
by Last Updated
Shane Beamer, South Carolina Gamecocks

© Jeff Blake-Imagn Images


College football analyst Brett McMurphy dropped his preseason Top 25 poll in early August with the 2025 season quickly approaching. As expected, a few fanbases were notably peeved by the opinion.

South Carolina football followers took particular offense to the prediction after seeing the Gamecocks left off of the poll entirely. One supporter made sure to let McMurphy hear his disgust.

The fan, named Gabriel, sent the insider an email tearing down his Top 25 list. It was much tamer than it could’ve been. Still, it got the point across.

South Carolina football fan spams Brett McMurphy.

“‘Big Fan of Your Work,’ is the title,’ he says,” McMurphy stated in a re-read of the note. “Yeah, that title is a lie. Your list was garbage. What’s your vendetta against South Carolina? Mad because they beat your favorite team or something?

“Maybe it’s time to retire, old-timer. You’re clearly becoming senile. Best, a disrespected South Carolina fan.”

The Gamecocks finished 9-4 last season with wins over the likes of Clemson, Texas A&M, and Missouri. Had it not been for some shoddy officiating in a close loss to LSU, they might’ve been College Football Playoff bound.

South Carolina lost a lot on defense, but it returns Heisman candidate QB LaNorris Sellers, freak wide receiver Nykoles Harbor, and Freshman All-American Dylan Stewart.

After finishing in the Top 20 of the final 2024 AP Poll, most voters have the Gamecocks firmly in their preseason Top 25 rankings. They came in at No. 13 in the first coaches’ poll.

Brett McMurphy is not a believer, though at one time, it seemed he was.

What changed?

You’d have to ask the analyst himself. McMurphy tabbed South Carolina as the 13th-best in the nation in his “Way-Too-Early Top 25” released in January.

He’s apparently seen enough transfer portal movement and NFL Draft attrition over the last six months to move the Gamecocks from the Top 15 to outside his rankings altogether.

South Carolina will look to prove Brett McMurphy wrong in the coming weeks. That starts with a Labor Day weekend showdown against Virginia Tech in Atlanta.