The AP poll is synonymous with divisive. Every week, there is anticipation around the committee’s verdict, and every week, there is outrage regarding certain placements. Or sometimes, lack thereof. As Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks pulled off the result of the weekend, there was cause for disdain from one CFB expert at their absence from the rankings.

A tale of two halves. That’s what fans at Willy B Stadium bore witness to as South Carolina (5-3) hosted SEC rivals Texas A&M (7-1). The first half was a close affair as both teams entered the break 20-20. Then, Beamer’s outfit flicked a figurative switch and went to town. They scored 24 unanswered points and came out 44-20 winners to hand the Aggies their first loss in conference play. Josh Pate waxed lyrical about the performance. He did not mince his words when it came to the committee’s apparent neglect of the program.

In an excerpt from his weekly YouTube livestream, Pate questioned, “Where in the world is South Carolina? [What] are we watching the same sport? [This comes] from the same group that had Missouri still ranked 25th last week. We watched South Carolina just bodybag A&M. Are you watching LaNorris Sellers? Do you see this pass rush they have? Did you see that place last night? You think there are 25 teams better than South Carolina in the country right now?”.

Pate singled out redshirt freshman QB LaNorris Sellers, who threw for 244 yards in the air and had 2 TDs to show for it, alongside 106 rushing yards. The Gamecocks had a whopping 530 total yards on the day. This was against a high-flying A&M unit which had yet to concede more than 24 points in a game. He also shouted out the rush defense, which garnered 3 sacks.

Shane Beamer has been up against it this season in terms of his team’s schedule. South Carolina has lost 3 games, all to ranked opponents. This includes 2 losses against Bama and LSU by a total margin of 5 points between them. The 6-3 record reads poorly, but contextualizing their traversal through the season would suggest Pate’s conjecture has some legs.

Josh Pate hints at one unbeaten team’s run potentially being dodgy

Apart from being ticked off about this exclusion, Pate was generally in agreement with the AP. He was particularly buoyant about the team that soared to no. 8. However, during the aforementioned rant, he let out one nugget, which expressed widespread concern about the fairytale story over in the Big 10. 

“Hey, if everyone played the same schedule, have at it. You are exactly what your record says you are. Does anyone in their right mind doubt what South Carolina would have done had they played Indiana’s schedule so far?”. The Hoosiers’ run has consistently been undermined by skepticism, as they are yet to play a ranked team.

While Josh Pate certainly doesn’t believe Indiana is better than South Carolina, Curt Cignetti’s team still has a monkey on their back. They have the opportunity to turn some naysayers this weekend when they face Michigan. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s norm of facing ranked opponents continues against Vandy.