Whether it be 2, 4, 12 or 16, the argument come this time of year has always and forever been this: The team that gets left out of the college football national championship dance didn’t deserve its fate.

We heard it in the BCS era every couple of years, from the likes of Auburn and such, and into the bygone 4-team College Football Playoff just last year when Florida State was left out in the cold.

Which is why, today in front of Saban and country, we offer this profound and thoughtful take for the current Playoff committee to consider about the South Carolina Gamecocks …

Put ’em in, cowards!

Oh sure, opposing fans will jeer, the Gamecocks dropped 3 games this season. And barely beating Old Dominion in the opener should darn near count as an L, others will suggest.

But pair up the Gamecocks’ resume against a similar team on the periphery of the 12-team Playoff field and try to argue against Shane Beamer’s squad getting a shot at the big enchilada.

You can’t do it. Which is why we proclaim this: Put ’em in, cowards!

South Carolina should have earned your respect Saturday by going to big brother’s house, paying no attention to that stupid rock on top of that stupid hill, and knocking off No. 12 Clemson 17-14. That victory was the Gamecocks’ 4th straight against an AP Top 25 opponent while facing arguably the toughest schedule outside of Alachua County, Fla.

The Gamecocks are the hottest team in America, having won 6 in a row. They’ve won 5 in a row against SEC or ACC teams — and all 5 of those opponents were ranked this season or still are.

Yes, we are well aware that South Carolina fell tantalizingly short to then-No. 16 LSU on Sept. 14. But any dispassionate observer would also point out that only the trademark suspicious SEC officiating kept South Carolina from winning that game. And yes, we are well aware that then-No. 12 Ole Miss marched into Columbia and dispatched the Gamecocks on Oct. 5, and then-No. 7 Alabama followed with a narrow win the next week.

Since then, all the Gamecocks have done is break off 6 straight wins to more or less sneak up on the entire nation.

South Carolina did that, both during this run and on Saturday against Clemson, with redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers legitimately improving on darn near every play. Sellers threw 2 TDs to help dispatch a Vanderbilt team precisely no one in the SEC wanted to play in the second half of the season, and turned in back-to-back 300-yard passing games against Mizzou and Wofford in the lead-up to Saturday against the Tigers.

But what Sellers did Saturday was simply sublime, shifting into a previously unknown gear in Death Valley. With Clemson limiting the pass throughout, Sellers used his legs to slice and dice South Carolina’s arch-rival – rushing for a career-high 166 yards on 16 carries and 2 touchdowns.

The coup de grace, the literal cherry on top of the Gamecocks’ sundae, was a weaving 20-yard run to avoid the Clemson pass rush and find the end zone with 1:08 to play for the final margin.

“LaNorris Sellers is the best player in the country. And all you media people who vote for the Heisman, if you’re not voting for that guy in the mix for the Heisman Trophy, you are out of your minds,” Beamer said as South Carolina celebrated. “Name a player in the country who has done more than that kid has, particularly today, in the environments and moments he has done it in. He put our team on his back today.”

After Beamer gleefully led The Carolina Band postgame, both my vote for SEC Coach of the Year and the Gamecocks settled in to root for absolute chaos in front of them – with Beamer specifically calling out Syracuse to upset Miami to trigger ACC hysteria.

“I’m the biggest Syracuse fan in the world right now,” Beamer said. “No disrespect to Miami, but I hope Syracuse wins tonight.”

Here’s the thing, though. South Carolina shouldn’t need chaos to get a berth in the College Football Playoff field. The Gamecocks have done enough – beating ranked teams at home and on the road, darn near beating more and playing some of the best football in the country down the stretch.

Are there teams out there that can make the same claims as South Carolina – beating 4 AP-ranked teams in November alone during a 6-game winning streak, all while competing in the ferociously difficult SEC?

The answer, of course, is no. Which is why, one final time, we beseech the cloak-and-dagger CFP committee to do the right thing with the Gamecocks.

Put ’em in, cowards!