On3 national analyst JD PicKell isn't feeling good about his prediction that excluded South Carolina from the College Football Playoff.
South Carolina football has been included in almost every preseason ranking this summer. Both the coaches poll and AP poll slotted the Gamecocks in at No. 13. Some prognosticators have even opined that Shane Beamer’s team has a chance at the College Football Playoff.
On Thursday, after recently leaving the Gamecocks outside of his projected 12-team field, On3’s JD PicKell put himself back among the ranks of USC’s biggest believers. During a segment on his podcast, The Hard Count, he said, “South Carolina, I think, could very well find themselves in the College Football Playoff.”
PicKell still has some reservations about the Gamecocks–namely, the defense’s ability to bounce back after losing so much talent to the NFL from 2024 and the unproven “supporting cast” behind LaNorris Sellers on offense–but he is experiencing some doubter’s remorse after excluding Carolina from his official preseason prediction for the 2025-2026 CFP.
“The longer [this offseason] goes, the less comfortable I feel about not having South Carolina in my College Football Playoff,” he said. “How much help does LaNorris Sellers actually get in 2025?” he asked. “His brother, Jayden Sellers. Nyckoles Harbor, who is a phenomenal track athlete and a good receiver; he’s starting to round the corner there. Mazeo Bennett, there’s a lot of pieces there…you should score a lot of points.”
He seems to trust defensive coordinator Clayton White and the USC defense to figure things out. The Gamecocks have done a great job in the transfer portal and with developing their talent. “Yeah, there’s a lot you can’t solve right now on the defensive side of the football,” he said. “But nobody had Kyle Kennard this time last year as the Bronko Nagurski winner.”
PicKell did provide one caveat to his new thoughts on the Gamecocks, though. “I’m going to start sweating pretty profusely if Rahsul Faison, the running back transfer from Utah State, is deemed eligible,” he joked. “If he’s eligible, he’s going to be such a dynamic addition to that offense.” He is a little less bullish on South Carolina without Faison, as opposing teams would be able to key on Sellers and the passing game a little more.
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He also acknowledged USC’s ability to outperform expectations under head coach Shane Beamer. “You start to sit with it longer. Then you’re like, ‘Man, when has it really ever made sense for South Carolina?'” The Gamecocks have outperformed the oddsmakers in three of Beamer’s four years.
Pickell remembered, “BetMGM last year had South Carolina’s over/under win total at 5.5. They won nine games!”
The On3 personality believes this year’s Gamecocks are different than the eight-win team from 2022. “In 2022…you finished the year with two top-10 wins, and it was awesome,” he said. “Those two games felt like such a massive pop for South Carolina.”
But the end of 2024 was even better. PicKell said, “Over the course of the season, they just got better, and better, and better to the point where they finished the season 9-3. And you’re like, ‘South Carolina has a very valid case to be a College Football Playoff team.'”
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Category: General Sports
