South-Carolina
Warde Manuel explains South Carolina slotting ahead of LSU in College Football Playoff rankings
LSU might’ve beaten South Carolina on the field earlier this season — albeit with some officiating controversy — but come College Football Playoff rankings time, the Gamecocks had leapfrogged the Tigers.
That was, in the explanation of selection committee chair Warde Manuel, due to the whole body of work trumping the head-to-head comparison for both teams. The fact LSU had won factored in, but both teams recent track records mattered more.
“Yeah, it really came down to the committee felt that since that game, South Carolina and LSU have gone in different directions,” Manuel said. “South Carolina has had some wins in that time frame, and LSU has had two consecutive losses. So the feeling was we do look at head-to-head. We obviously consider that closely. We look at that in our evaluation and determine when a team — we take a good hard look when teams play head-to-head and the outcome of the game.”
Since losing to LSU in mid-September, the Gamecocks have only lost two other times, both to current Top 10 teams and have since won three in a row. That included a 44-20 thrashing of ranked Texas A&M.
LSU, meanwhile, looked strong for much of the first half of the season after losing the opener to USC — a loss that’s grown increasingly ugly as the Trojans falter — but has now dropped a pair of SEC games in recent weeks and got outclassed entirely on Saturday.
So while the Tigers might’ve bested the Gamecocks on Sept. 14, both teams have played themselves into different spots with weeks left in the season, and the committee ranked them as such, even at the expense of seemingly ignoring a head-to-head result.
“But in this particular case, we also looked at the body of work and where those teams are, and so the discussion amongst the committee really came down to factoring in everything, in particular, where those teams were since that game was played, and obviously LSU struggled the last two weeks, and South Carolina has really performed admirably since that loss to LSU,” Manuel said.
New details have emerged in an officer-involved shooting that left one dead and a deputy injured in Anderson County on Monday.
A deputy with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) initiated a traffic stop outside of Townville, SC, on I-85 Northbound near Mile Marker 11 for a traffic violation, according to a release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
The deputy requested back-up and spoke to 32-year-old Austin Derrell Robertson, of Pennsylvania, in his patrol vehicle. Once the other deputy arrived, Robertson got out of the vehicle and “a physical altercation involving him and the two deputies” occured, according to SLED.
SC deputy critically injured after shooting during traffic stop, suspect killed
While deputies attempted to tase Robertson, officials said he grabbed a firearm from his vehicle and shot one of the deputies.
Both deputies then shot back at Roberston, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
SLED said the deputy was airlifted to the hospital and remains there for treatment at this time.
The incident remains under investigation by SLED, as requested by the ACSO.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. André Bauer has been nominated for a position in foreign diplomacy.
The White House on Tuesday listed Bauer as a nominee to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Belize, a Central American country bordering Guatemala.
It’s unclear when a confirmation hearing will take place. WIS has reached out to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee for more information.
Bauer was South Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 2003-2011, serving under then-Gov. Mark Sanford. Before that, he served terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate.
More recently, Bauer entered the race for U.S. Senate in July 2025, looking to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary. He ended his campaign the following month.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Six Republican candidates vying to become South Carolina’s next governor met in downtown Charleston for a wide-ranging debate that put abortion, infrastructure and the future of data centers at the center of the race.
The forum was held at the Sottile Theatre, where Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy and Attorney General Alan Wilson took the stage.
Questions included whether they would support a state hate crime law, how they would address concerns about growth and infrastructure, how to navigate collaboration, abortion and the future of data centers in the state.
One issue that drew near-unanimous opposition was state Senate Bill 1095, a proposed total abortion ban that passed out of committee earlier in the day. All of the candidates opposed the bill, but they differed on what they would do if it reached the governor’s desk.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
Norman said he would sign it.
“You know, this is an emotional issue, but I will tell you if this bill came to my desk as governor. If it passed the House and the Senate, I would sign it,” Norman said.
All of the other candidates on stage said they would veto the bill if it came across their desk as governor, with Reddy arguing the question should be decided by voters.
“The Supreme Court did not say the loudest voice in the ruling class prevails. It said it’s up to the people in the state, so let’s put it to a referendum,” Reddy said.
On infrastructure, candidates discussed reforming the South Carolina Department of Transportation and allowing private-sector involvement to help pay for improvements.
Wilson outlined ideas that included leasing interstate easements and expanding private express lanes.
“We privatized that grass between the interstates. We turn it into private express lanes that can be told we leased the easements on the sides of interstates to telecommunication companies and energy companies, and charge them for natural gas line and fiber optic fiber optic cables,” Wilson said.
Evette also pointed to public-private partnerships and the possibility of fast-pass lanes.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
“We want to make sure that we’re innovative public private partnerships coming in and creating fast pass lanes to allow people that are in a hurry to be able to utilize that,” Evette said.
The final question focused on data centers, with candidates agreeing corporations should “pay their way.”
“They should pay for their water. They should pay for their infrastructure, any roads around it, and we should look at what Governor Ron DeSantis has done in Florida with the large data centers that are coming to Florida. That should be the model in South Carolina and everywhere,” Mace said.
Kimbrell said the state should set limits to protect natural resources and guard against higher power costs for residents.
“Put parameters around data centers to ensure that the water consumption does not impact places like the ACE Basin,” Kimbrell said. “Ensuring that the Public Service Commission makes absolutely sure nobody’s power rate goes up and we try to get behind the meter energy grids in place so they can be self-sufficient.”
Two more debates are planned ahead of the primaries on June 9.
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