COLUMBIA — The boos, the chants to fire someone — anyone — were early and often. The reactions since have been visceral, raw, furious.

It is again worth it to point out it was not Shane Beamer, his staff nor any of his players who talked these pie-in-the-sky dreams of the College Football Playoff during the summer. They certainly had the CFP as one of their myriad goals, just like they do every season, but they weren’t buying into the national hype. They didn’t place themselves in the top 15 to start the year.

Beamer even said it, dismissing it in July. The Gamecocks won nine games in 2024 and returned their quarterback, he said, which would cause anyone to talk them up. He preferred the national eye going into 2024, when coming off a 5-7 season, nobody thought they’d be worth a crap.

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