The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for South Carolina football. After battling through a physical start to the season, the Gamecocks used the weekend off to rest injured players and fine-tune new personnel groupings that debuted in last week’s matchup against Kentucky.
Now sitting at 3-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play, Shane Beamer’s squad enters a challenging midseason stretch with bowl eligibility still within reach. The Gamecocks have made a bowl game in three of Beamer’s four seasons, but national experts remain divided on whether that streak will continue in 2025.
Mixed National Bowl Projections
For the second straight week, On3’s Brett McMurphy has South Carolina penciled in for the Texas Bowl, this time predicting a showdown with Iowa State. It would mark USC’s first-ever trip to the Texas Bowl and a rematch of sorts—the Gamecocks beat the Cyclones handily in their only previous meeting back in 1967.
Over at ESPN, analysts Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura offered differing outlooks.
- Bonagura has South Carolina bound for the Music City Bowl in Nashville against Penn State — a matchup steeped in history, as the two programs haven’t faced each other since before World War II. It would also be the Gamecocks’ first-ever appearance in the Music City Bowl.
- Schlabach, on the other hand, placed USC in the Gator Bowl to face Virginia, a familiar foe. South Carolina holds the all-time edge in that series, though the Cavaliers won their last meeting — the 2018 Belk Bowl. Notably, the Gamecocks are 0-5 all-time in the Gator Bowl, a drought they’d love to end.
Meanwhile, Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan continues to predict a Liberty Bowl appearance for South Carolina for the third consecutive week. His latest projection features a matchup with the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Gamecocks last played in the Liberty Bowl in 2006, when Steve Spurrier’s squad topped Houston in a high-scoring affair. Carolina also owns a 2-0 all-time record against Cincinnati, with both wins coming in Columbia during the 1980s.
However, not every analyst is optimistic. Former CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm once again left South Carolina out of his bowl projections — a stance echoed by several other national outlets. Considering USC began the year as a dark-horse College Football Playoff pick, missing a bowl entirely would mark a major letdown.
Eyes on Baton Rouge
The next chance for redemption comes this Saturday when the Gamecocks travel to Baton Rouge for a night showdown with LSU. With rest, renewed focus, and a chance to prove doubters wrong, Beamer’s team will look to turn the tide and solidify its postseason hopes under the bright lights of Death Valley.
