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Hypothetical Just for Fun: Does USC make a 12-team playoff from 2010-2013? (Long)

The big news right now in college football is the possible increased field of the playoff from 4 to 12 teams. There are articles out on how a 12-team field would have looked from 2014-2020 but I took it one step further. I was curious to see how a 12-team field would have looked in 2010-2013, the same time period of our greatest four-year run in school history. With no committee, I used BCS rankings to complete the field which are in parenthesis and conference champions are in bold.

2010:
Auburn (1)
Oregon (2)
TCU (3)

Stanford (4)
Wisconsin (5)
Ohio State (6)
Oklahoma (7)
Arkansas (8)
Michigan St (9)
Boise St (10)
LSU (11)
Mizzouri (12)

USC (20)

5 Stanford vs 12 Missouri: Winner takes on 4 Wisconsin

6 Ohio State vs 11 LSU: Winner takes on 3 TCU

7 Oklahoma vs 10 Boise: Winner takes on 2 Oregon

8 Arkansas vs 9 Michigan State: Winner takes on 1 Auburn

Honestly it really doesn’t take any research to see we wouldn’t have made it in 2010 unless we defeated Auburn. We were #18 going into this game so a win over Auburn definitely gets us in. However, the devastating loss to UK following the program-changing win over Bama was what would have really costed us a spot, not so much the Auburn losses that year. That week after the UK game, we debuted #21 in the BCS and dropped 8 spots on the coaches poll following that game.

2011
LSU (1)

Alabama (2)
Oklahoma State (3)
Stanford (4)
Oregon (5)
Arkansas (6)
Boise St (7)
Kansas State (8)
USC (9)
Wisconsin (10)
Clemson (15)
TCU (18)


5 Bama vs 12 TCU: Winner takes on 4 Wisconsin

6 Stanford vs 11 Clemson: Winner takes on 3 Oregon

7 Arkansas vs 10 USC: Winner takes on Oklahoma State

8 Boise State vs 9 Kansas State: Winner takes on 1 LSU

The good news: We get in the playoff! Bad news, we go back to Fayetteville for a first round matchup. Out of all the teams except for Bama, that would have been the worst possible matchup for us. That was probably our best defense in school history and Arkansas lit us up in that first game. The flip side is if we get past them, I like the possible matchups in the next two rounds.

Also, Bama and LSU would have been a possible semifinal matchup, not a championship matchup like it was when they met up in New Orleans that year.

2012
Notre Dame (1)
Alabama (2)
Florida (3)
Oregon (4)
Kansas St (5)
Stanford (6)

Georgia (7)
LSU (8)
Texas A&M (9)
Florida State (12)
Northern Illinois (15)
Boise St (19)


USC (10)

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Boise St: Winner takes on 4 Florida St

6 Florida vs 11 Northen Illinois: Winner takes on 3 Stanford

7 Oregon vs 10 Texas A&M: Winner takes on 2 Kansas St

8 UGA vs 9 LSU: Winner takes on 1 Bama

This was the most interesting projection of the four years for me. ND finished ranked #1 but because the top 4 byes go to conference champions, ND isn’t eligible and therefore has to host a first-round game as a 5 seed. Also, Ohio State finished 12-0. However, they were on probation so they weren’t eligible for the playoff. Unranked 7-5 Wisconsin upset #12 Nebraska to win the Big Ten title and the Big Ten was left out completely despite three teams in the top 25. NIU and Boise also reach the playoff from a non BCS school.

We finished #10 and this was IMO our best team ever. Unfortunately we would have been the first team out despite being ahead of three other conference champions because five other SEC teams were ahead of us. That just shows you how brutal the SEC was that year.

2013
Florida St (1)
Auburn (2)

Alabama (3)
Michigan State (4)
Stanford (5)
Baylor (6)

Ohio State (7)
Mizzouri (8)
USC (9)
Oregon (10)
Oklahoma (11)
UCF (15)

5 Bama vs 12 UCF: Winner takes on 4 Stanford

6 Baylor vs 11 Oklahoma: Winner takes on 3 Michigan State

7 Ohio State vs 10 Oregon: Winner takes on 2 Auburn

8 Mizzou vs 9 USC: Winner takes on 1 Florida State


Again we make the playoff!! Clemson also just misses out as the first team out. And we face a team we defeated in the regular season in a epic comeback. If we get past Mizzou, we face a dominant FSU team with Heisman trophy winner Jamesis Winston. We were one of the hottest teams in the country to finish the season that year so I wouldn’t have been surprised to see us go deep, although beating FSU would have been a tough task.

If you guys made it this far, thanks for reading!! It was a lot I know. Two playoffs spots in 2011 and 2013, I would have take it. But after this hypothetical playoff, I’m even more intrigued and excited about a 12 team playoff although I still prefer 8.

So are bowls just going to die off now?

A 12-field playoff is going to suck all of the oxygen out of the post season. For the bowls that are not hosting a playoff game, is there any hope that anyone cares anymore? Bowl trips were great opportunities and rewards for the athletes. They loved them. They got a little less special in recent years with players opting out, but still a fun way to spend an evening in late December.

Shane Beamer Football Camp Insider - Day 10

*** In terms of prospects that South Carolina has - or ultimately will - engage with, today's final session of OL/DL camp appeared to be lighter.

There were a couple defensive linemen of interest, namely North Carolina four-star Santana Hopper and in-state product DJ Aiken out of Bluffton.

Given South Carolina's numbers and positioning with certain prospects up front, the staff is taking a selective approach in terms of what it's looking for on the interior going forward. We'll be keeping an eye on these two, but not to the extent that we are tracking some other candidates.

*** Over at the seven-on-seven team passing camp, we got a good look at a pair of in-state prospects from the 2023 class.

One of them was South Florence's LaNorris Sellers, who strung together a nice day as far as arm strength and accuracy in the games we saw. Sellers is put together well, and he also drew some attention from the staff during the day.

LaNorrisSellers.JPG

*** High three-star tight end Corbin Page out of Spring Valley (West Virginia) was on hand with his high school team to take part in the passing tournament and looked the part from a physical standpoint.

South Carolina's resources were, of course, devoted to getting ready for top priority Oscar Delp, who arrived in Columbia for his official visit on Friday afternoon..

*** Bluffton also had a 2023 wide receiver named Jaylin Linder who looked the part and made some plays during the day. The staff was monitoring him a bit throughout the day.

*** Wide receivers coach Justin Stepp communicated with Ridge View product Chris Lawson in between games, and the 2023 prospect made some plays (including a really nice touchdown catch) to help Ridge View advance to the finals.

FROM WES MITCHELL

** Nation Ford quarterback Carson Black received a lot of attention and then some from Marcus Satterfield and the South Carolina staff.

Black, who has an offer from South Carolina, led his team to the semifinals with Carolina coaches seemingly watching his every move.

Early in the day, Satterfield watched his first two games and then I saw him watch at least three other games of Black's and Shane Beamer made sure to take some time to talk to Black as well.

Virginia Tech, Louisville and Cincinnati have offered as well, but the word I hear is gthat South Carolina and Louisville are the two schools showing him the most love.

On the field, Black has a unique release and delivered strong throw after throw today in nearly leading his team to the finals. He's an accurate kid with some strong poise and leadership about him.

After the visit, Black hung around to spend some more time with the staff and was going to look a bit more at the facilities. Early indications are that he's been extremely impressed with the program and how his recruitment has been handled by the coaches as the Gamecocks continue to express strong interest.

CarsonBlack.JPG

** South Carolina delivered an offer to Charlotte (N.C.) Charlotte Christian class of 2024 tight end Jack Larsen earlier this month after he impressed at camp and he impressed again on Friday with tight ends coach Erik Kimrey watching.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is young obviously and still growing but displays great body movement and route running to go along with great hands.

The Gamecocks are in on him first and Kimrey was spending some time with him after camp.

  • Poll
Predict our record in these 4 games: Eastern Illinois, Troy, @ECU, and Vandy

Predict our record between Eastern Illinois, Troy, @ECU, and Vanderbilt

  • 4-0

    Votes: 114 66.3%
  • 3-1

    Votes: 42 24.4%
  • 2-2

    Votes: 12 7.0%
  • 1-3

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • 0-4

    Votes: 3 1.7%

the 4 games we realistically have a 50/50 shot at this year, I think 2-2 with wins over Eastern Illinois and upset over Vandy, and pull another upset somewhere finishing the season overall at 3-9, what do you think?
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