COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina keeps climbing. The Gamecocks jumped four places, landing at No. 17 when the playoff selection committee put out its second set of rankings Tuesday night, on the heels of a fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference victory.
The latest came Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium, where South Carolina, now 6-3 and 4-3 in league play, rallied past Texas A&M 17-9 by holding the Aggies scoreless over the final 15 minutes while scoring 10 of its own. LaNorris Sellers sealed it on a 41-yard quarterback run for a touchdown with 79 seconds to go.
The run has turned around a season that began 2-3. It started with a 38-19 win at Florida on Oct. 10 and includes a 27-24 comeback over Tennessee on Oct. 24. Coach Shane Beamer is now one of only two Gamecock coaches, along with Steve Spurrier, to win four SEC games in a row more than once since the school joined the league in 1992.
Georgia replaced Miami at No. 1 in the new rankings, followed by Utah, Alabama, UCLA and Notre Dame. Utah and UCLA are the last two unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and Notre Dame made history by jumping from No. 11 into the top five in a single week. Five other SEC teams sit ahead of South Carolina: Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky. Ole Miss is right behind at 19, with LSU at 21 and Missouri at 22.
The committee will meet again Nov. 16-17 and release its third rankings on Nov. 17. Before then, South Carolina visits a 3-6 Arkansas team that is 1-5 in the SEC on Saturday, with kickoff at 7:45 p.m. on SEC Network.
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