11-08-2025
2025 South Carolina Football Predictions: Gamecocks Ranked 17th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136
College Football 2025 South Carolina Football Predictions: Gamecocks Ranked 17th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136
Published
Aug. 10, 2025 9:15 p.m. ET
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This isn't your average college football ranking.
My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
Who do I think is good?
Why do I think they're good?
What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?
Here is a look at where South Carolina lands in my Ultimate 136.
South Carolina Gamecocks ranking: 17
Last year's ranking: 61
Top player: QB LaNorris Sellers: Selected as SEC Freshman of the Year last season; his 674 rushing yards were the most in a single season by a QB in program history.
[South Carolina's 2025 schedule]
RJ's take: A season that fell just short of earning a chance to play in the College Football Playoff for the first time, Shane Beamer bolstered his roster with a prodigious passer, former Ohio State QB Air Noland, to push Sellers. The addition of former Utah State RB Rahsul Faison is perhaps his best, though — a tailback who rushed for 1,109 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
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For his part, Sellers put up 3,208 total yards and 25 total touchdowns in an offense that I called "Getting It Done." The Gamecocks turned most games into a fistfight and earned ranked wins against three opponents and nine total for the first time since 2017.
But that's only if we don't consider what he did in the second half of the year — like becoming just the third QB in school history to pass for 350 yards and five touchdowns in a game (Missouri). Defensively, 6-foot-6, 245-pound Dylan Stewart figures to ascend. He was one of the top true freshmen in the country with 6.5 sacks last season.
Beamer took over a 2-8 team in 2022 and turned it into a nine-win one by the end of 2024. If he can turn last year's nine into 11 this year, the Gamecocks could play for the SEC title.
[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]
South Carolina Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (+128) Under 7.5 (-158)
Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young , and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
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