Carolina Continues To Climb The SEC East Hierarchy
South Carolina has undergone a lot of personal progress as a team. The Gamecocks have improved on essentially every facet of the game and look like a far better team now than they did after the Arkansas game back in September.
That progress is no secret and is recognized by many people, the committee included, which is why the Gamecocks have been ranked as the 18th best team in the nation in this week's ranking, the highest rank they have been all season.
The progress that has yet to be publicized has been South Carolina's progress and improvement in the SEC East.
At the beginning of the season, South Carolina was essentially the bottom dweller of the SEC East and the SEC as a whole. This lousy stretch of being at the bottom of the SEC East was at its peak after the embarrassing loss to Mizzou.
However, South Carolina quickly turned it around. The Gamecocks sit close to the top of the SEC East and should expect to remain there for years.
Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina are the only teams in the SEC East ranked. Georgia is a powerhouse and should continue to be one until Kirby Smart stops coaching, but Tennessee should expect to falter.
Josh Heupel is a great coach and will do a fantastic job with the Volunteers. However, the talent Tennessee has right now is likely the product of good timing and a great year, leaving South Carolina ready to compete with Georgia.
Georgia has run the SEC East largely unimposed for years, but South Carolina is primed to compete with the Bulldogs. Thanks to the great job Shane Beamer has done at recruiting, South Carolina has amassed a talented unit that should be able to compete with Georgia.
It did not play out like that earlier in the year, but the game should be much closer if they were to rematch at this point of the season.
The hope for South Carolina should be to beat Georgia because the expectation is to beat every team in the SEC East. Tennessee will be a strong team, but South Carolina already beat them this year, and there's no reason for that to change in the coming years.
If South Carolina continues to improve as a team, they should expect to become a superpower in the SEC East.
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