Answering the biggest questions for South Carolina football after Clemson, Tennessee upsets

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football has beaten all the odds in the final two weeks of the season, upsetting then-No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson as multiple-touchdown underdogs.

The Gamecocks (8-4, 4-4 SEC) successfully ruined the College Football Playoff hopes of both the Tigers (10-2) and the Vols (10-2), earning themselves a No. 20 ranking in both the USA TODAY coaches' and Associated Press polls.

The upsets were even more stunning because they came after South Carolina scored a combined 16 points against Missouri (6-6) and Florida (6-6). The 31-30 victory over Clemson on Saturday was the Gamecocks' first since 2013 and marked the first consecutive wins over top 10 opponents in program history.

Here are the biggest questions for South Carolina football after the regular season:

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Who won't play in the bowl game?

Several South Carolina upperclassmen are likely to declare for the NFL Draft and therefore unlikely to play in the bowl game. Defensive back Cam Smith, who is projected widely as a first-round pick, has not made an official decision but said before the Tennessee game that he will probably declare. Defensive lineman Zacch Pickens and Josh Vann, who both walked on senior day, are also expected to declare. Vann exited the Clemson game in the first quarter with a knee injury, which makes him the least likely of the three to play in December.

The question South Carolina fans want an answer to right now is whether quarterback Spencer Rattler will be back next year, and his performances against Tennessee and Clemson may have been enough to get him back on NFL radars. Even if Rattler does decide to declare, it would be a surprise if he opted out of the bowl game. Two big performances are great, but a third in a major bowl keeps him on the national radar and could elevate him to a legitimate early round prospect.

Is the Citrus Bowl a sure thing?

It was ... until No. 5 LSU lost to Texas A&M. Now the bowl projections are a bit more complicated, but the Citrus Bowl remains the clear frontrunner for South Carolina.

The Citrus Bowl, played on Jan. 2 in Orlando, Florida, gets the first pick of SEC teams after the College Football Playoff and New Year's Six bowls are filled. Georgia will likely be the only SEC team in the playoff, which leaves Tennessee, LSU and Alabama ranked above the Gamecocks. The Cotton Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl could all be filled by SEC teams, which would leave South Carolina in the Citrus, but the Orange and Cotton are not guaranteed to a team in the conference.

If one of the aforementioned trio misses out on a New Year's Six — probably three-loss LSU — that team becomes the favorite for the Citrus. South Carolina would then fall to either the Gator Bowl played Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Florida, or to the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 2.

What do the upsets mean for recruiting?

With the early signing period on Dec. 21, it may be a bit late to significantly impact the 2023 recruiting class, but it wouldn't be surprising to see some big gains in the 2024 class. Coach Shane Beamer, who served as South Carolina's recruiting coordinator under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10, is known for his recruiting acumen and will certainly take advantage of the positive momentum.

The Gamecocks had a massive group of prospects at the Tennessee game, and Beamer said he was still getting messages of excitement from recruits for days after the 63-38 victory over the Vols. While the road win at Clemson didn't provide an on-the-ground experience for South Carolina recruits, it did something just as important: proved Tennessee wasn't a fluke. It solidified that the program is actually developing, rather than a one-hit wonder.

South Carolina has several major targets left on the board for 2023, including five-star defensive lineman Nyckoles Harbor. Harbor would be the first five-star commitment of Beamer's head-coaching tenure and the Gamecocks' first since defensive lineman Jordan Burch in 2020.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football: Biggest questions after Clemson, Tennessee stunners