Tennessee fans get more evidence that South Carolina may have had the Vols' signs in UT's loss to Gamecocks in 2022

There's been a lot of speculation over the last year that the South Carolina Gamecocks' had the Tennessee Vols' sideline signals in UT's disastrous loss in Columbia in 2022.

There's no proof that this was definitely the case. But there's plenty of evidence that suggests it's likely that South Carolina had the Vols' signals, which would obviously help explain the shocking outcome of that game (a 63-38 win for the Gamecocks) that no one saw coming.

The crux of the theory is that infamous sign-stealer Connor Stalions and Michigan shared Tennessee's signals with South Carolina in an effort to manipulate the College Football Playoff field in 2022. Tennessee appeared to be a lock to make the playoff in 2022 until their loss to the Gamecocks.

Here's what we do know:

• Michigan scouted a Tennessee game in person and, according to a report from Football Scoop , the Wolverines may have shared information with opponents of potential playoff teams to disrupt their path to the playoff.
• There was a connection between Michigan and South Carolina via Gamecocks defensive coordinator Clayton White, who previously worked under then Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
• South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was fined in 2015 for accepting information about another program's game plan.
• Just a couple of weeks before playing Tennessee in 2022, Beamer told reporters that he shares information with other programs/coaches about opponents.

It's plausible, right?

It's even more plausible after hearing Stalions tell "Bussin with the Boys" this week that he shared signals with Ohio State in 2021 because Michigan needed Michigan State to lose the Buckeyes.

If Stalions and the Wolverines were sharing information with Ohio State in 2021, it seems incredibly likely that they also shared information with South Carolina in 2022.

We may never know with 100 percent certainty if that was the case. But it would definitely explain the Vols' unexpected loss to a not-very-good South Carolina team.

There's a really good chance that Tennessee was a robbed of a trip to the playoff in 2022 because of the Michigan sign stealing scandal.

Related: College football analyst hits Tennessee fans with a dose of reality about QB Nico Iamaleava and the Vols