South Carolina’s Non-Conference Puzzle Continues to Fill In — Including a Rare Outdoor Exhibition

South Carolina’s non-conference schedule is rounding into shape, and the newest addition is unlike anything else on the calendar: a women’s basketball exhibition played outdoors on a converted tennis court.

Clemson and Gardner-Webb round out the calendar

Wednesday brought official confirmation from two future opponents. Both Clemson and Gardner-Webb released their own non-conference schedules, each confirming matchups against South Carolina — a road trip to face the Tigers on November 11, followed by a home game against the Runnin’ Bulldogs on December 28. Given that South Carolina’s conference slate opens December 31, the Gardner-Webb matchup figures to serve as the Gamecocks’ final tune-up before SEC play begins in earnest.

An unusual venue takes center stage

The more unique addition, first reported by The Post and Courier, is an outdoor exhibition against College of Charleston, set for Sunday, September 27, at Credit One Stadium in Charleston. Games are scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m. What makes this booking especially unusual is the venue itself — Credit One Stadium primarily hosts tennis, meaning organizers will need to lay a specially designed basketball court directly over the facility’s existing clay tennis surface for the occasion.

A rivalry with a long, uneven history

South Carolina and College of Charleston aren’t strangers on the court, having met 26 times overall, though the bulk of that history — 15 meetings — came back in the 1970s. The two programs didn’t play at all throughout the 1980s before occasional matchups resumed in the 1990s. Since 1991, only two of their 11 meetings have actually taken place in Charleston, with South Carolina’s most recent visit to the city dating all the way back to 2004 — making this September’s matchup a genuinely rare road appearance in Cougar territory, if not technically a true road game given the neutral-style outdoor setup.

A Cougars program in transition

College of Charleston enters this matchup under new leadership, with former Florida and Clemson coach Amanda Butler taking over the program for her first season. The Cougars are coming off real momentum, too, having reached their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last season before previous coach Robin Harmony departed to take the head job at Pitt — meaning Butler inherits a program with genuine tournament credibility but also real coaching turnover to manage.

Ticket details remain unclear

Tickets for the first two games of this broader event are already available for purchase, though it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether those tickets also cover the South Carolina-College of Charleston matchup specifically, or whether that game will require separate admission.

Part of a broader tripleheader event

This women’s basketball matchup didn’t emerge in isolation — it’s being folded into an already-announced event called the LinkU Invitational. That event was first unveiled in July as a men’s basketball doubleheader, pairing College of Charleston against The Citadel, followed by Vanderbilt against Virginia. With the addition of the South Carolina-College of Charleston women’s game, the event now expands into a full tripleheader, giving fans in Charleston an unusually packed day of college basketball across both men’s and women’s competition.

Fitting a familiar pattern for South Carolina

This outdoor exhibition also continues a recognizable trend in how South Carolina has approached its non-conference scheduling in recent years — high-profile exhibitions carrying an NIL component for players. That pattern began in 2023 with a fundraising game against Rutgers held in memory of the late Nikki McCray, a former assistant coach for both programs who passed away from complications related to breast cancer. South Carolina followed that with a 2024 exhibition at Memphis, then a matchup against North Carolina in Atlanta last season. In each of those three years, South Carolina also scheduled a more traditional home exhibition against a Division II opponent, suggesting this September’s Charleston game may not be the program’s only exhibition addition this cycle.

That possibility is reinforced by a new NCAA rule change taking effect this season, which permits teams to play up to three total exhibitions and as many as 32 regular-season games — meaning South Carolina could still add up to two more exhibitions and five additional regular-season games before its schedule is fully finalized.

An HBCU showcase still waiting on details

Separately, marketing agency Rae Rose Media — which has previously partnered with South Carolina on NIL initiatives like the program’s NCAA selection watch party — has teased another event on the horizon: the PowHER Player Classic, described as an “HBCU Women’s Basketball Tournament and NIL Marketplace” planned for Columbia sometime in November. Specific date, venue and format all remain unconfirmed. A teaser graphic featuring four partially obscured team logos identified South Carolina and Tennessee State (coached by Candice Dupree, a former Dawn Staley player at Temple) as confirmed participants, with a third logo appearing to belong to Alabama A&M and a fourth possibly representing NC Central, coached by former Gamecock Olivia Gaines — though that final logo remains difficult to confirm with certainty.

A demanding conference slate awaits

Beyond the non-conference additions, South Carolina’s SEC schedule includes a notable home-and-home series against Oklahoma — hosting the Sooners January 14 before traveling to Norman for a Monday night rematch February 8, a return trip that caps off a particularly grueling stretch also including road games at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, plus a home matchup against Kentucky. The Gamecocks have two built-in conference byes, falling on January 24 and February 18.

Full Confirmed Schedule:
September 27 vs. College of Charleston (Exhibition) — Credit One Stadium, Charleston
November 2 vs. Maryland — Paris (OuiPlay)
November 8 vs. North Carolina — Charlotte (Ally Tipoff)
November 11 at Clemson
November 15 vs. Southern Cal — Greenville, SC (Real SC)
November 21 at Providence
November 24 vs. UConn — Uncasville, CT (Hall of Fame Showcase)
December 3 at Duke (ACC/SEC Challenge)
December 6 vs. Oklahoma State
December 19 vs. UCLA — Las Vegas (Players Era Championship)
December 20 vs. Notre Dame — Las Vegas (Players Era Championship)
December 28 vs. Gardner-Webb
December 31 vs. Alabama
January 3 at Texas
January 7 at Mississippi State
January 10 vs. Arkansas
January 14 vs. Oklahoma
January 17 at Missouri
January 21 vs. Florida
January 28 at Tennessee
January 31 vs. Kentucky
February 4 at Vanderbilt
February 8 at Oklahoma
February 11 vs. Texas A&M
February 14 at Ole Miss
February 21 vs. LSU
February 25 vs. Auburn
February 28 at Georgia
March 3-7 — SEC Tournament (Greenville, SC)
March 17-22 — NCAA Tournament opening rounds
March 26-29 — NCAA Tournament regionals (Las Vegas and Philadelphia)
April 2-4 — Final Four (Columbus, OH)

Outstanding return games still on the books

A few contractual obligations remain unresolved for future seasons as well. South Carolina still owes Penn State and Grand Canyon return games following home matchups last season, with both currently scheduled for the 2027-28 campaign. Oklahoma State has also confirmed that South Carolina’s return game against the Cowgirls will take place at a neutral Oklahoma site, also during the 2027-28 season — extending South Carolina’s scheduling commitments well beyond just this upcoming year.

About The Author