South Carolina Gamecocks Selected as Top Candidate as First-Time CFP Team

The South Carolina Gamecocks have been selected as a top candidate to be a first-time CFP team this season.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are ramping up for what many anticipate to be a very exciting college football season. LaNorris Sellers entered college football stardom in his first year as the team's starting quarterback, and with him returning, hopes are high in Columbia.

It's not just Gamecock fans who believe in their football program this season, though. ESPN's Heather Dinich released her list of potential first-time college football playoff teams for this season, and the Gamecocks were No. 2 on the list, only behind Illinois.

"The Gamecocks were a fringe CFP team last year and could take another step forward as an at-large team this year under the leadership of talented returning quarterback LaNorris Sellers," Dinich wrote. "If they can go 2-0 against the ACC and pull off some SEC upsets along the way, the Gamecocks' CFP chances will rise."

The unfortunate news for South Carolina is that they have a brutal stretch to end the season. It starts with LSU on the road and then it's Oklahoma at home, Alabama at home, Ole Miss on the road, Texas A&M on the road, Coastal Carolina and then Clemson at home.

The Gamecocks will have to survive that stretch of games if they want to make the playoffs for the first time in program history, and with Sellers leading the charge, it's certainly possible.