Saturday Blitz
Fansided

College Football: Biggest dark-horse to win each Power Five league in 2022

By Connor Muldowney

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 30: Juju McDowell #21 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates with E.J. Jenkins #13 following a touchdown run during the first half of the Duke's Mayo Bowl against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Bank of America Stadium on December 30, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 30: Juju McDowell #21 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates with E.J. Jenkins #13 following a touchdown run during the first half of the Duke's Mayo Bowl against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Bank of America Stadium on December 30, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
South Carolina Gamecocks tight end Jaheim Bell (0) celebrates after scoring against North Carolina Tar Heels during the DukeÕs Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Thursday, December 30, 2021.Jg Mayobowl 123021 061
South Carolina Gamecocks tight end Jaheim Bell (0) celebrates after scoring against North Carolina Tar Heels during the DukeÕs Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Thursday, December 30, 2021.Jg Mayobowl 123021 061 /

SEC: South Carolina Gamecocks

The SEC was a tough one for me. I like teams like Florida and LSU to bounce back and make some noise in the league and I truly don’t see Arkansas and Ole Miss as dark-horses anymore, but I wanted to go with a team that doesn’t get as much attention as the four aforementioned programs.

South Carolina really impressed me last year, going 7-6 with a win in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in the first year of Shane Beamer. He won the media over at SEC Media Days before the season even started and he only kept impressing, leading a relatively dormant program to a winning season and winning the FWAA’s award for best first-year coach.

Beamer isn’t stopping at “winning seasons are successful” as he’s now digging down and trying to improve on that win total in 2022. Contention is not far away nor is it out of the question for next year.

The Gamecocks are bringing in one of the best transfers on the market in Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler who could be an All-SEC player. He was once considered the No. 1 overall NFL draft prospect before the 2021 season. Tight end Austin Stogner joins him as a transfer in Columbia.

There are six other transfers who could come in and start right away and the Gamecocks bring in the No. 25 recruiting class in the country — up 54 spots from the previous cycle.

South Carolina players are buying in and fans are being won over. This team is going to shock the SEC in 2022.

dark. Next. Way-too-early Top 25 rankings projections for 2022

Home/College Football News