Short answer is we've beat 1 team that's relevant (we scored more than NCSU but they wore us out in all honesty) and many of our wins against bad teams (and the list is long) have been close. SEC East is as bad as I've ever seen it. So to be recognized, beat the taters and then beat Penn St in a bowl game and we crack Top 15. Lose to the taters and lose our bowl game and we may be the worst 8 win team in college football this year.7-3 (5-3) 2nd in SEC East South Carolina winners of last 4 out of 5 receives 2 votes (good for 35 in country) 5-4 Georgia Tech received 6 votes
the 7-3 teams that are ranked in top 25 are Stanford, LSU (lost to troy at home) Michigan State, West Virginia, and NC State (Which has no good wins, and SC beat them)
7-3 teams that received more votes than SC include:
Virginia Tech 110
Northwestern 72
Arizona 49
4 loss teams that received more votes than SC:
Iowa State 27
Georgia Tech 6
8-2 teams that have a pathetic schedule and received more votes than SC:
Boise State 6
Army 3