The highly anticipated home-and-home football series between South Carolina and Miami, originally set for 2026 and 2027, is officially off the table — and now we know why.
During a Wednesday appearance on 107.5 The Game’s Post Game Show with Jay Phillips and Terry Ford, South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati broke down the reasoning behind the mutual decision to cancel the series.
“First of all, this series was scheduled long before either conference was playing nine games,” Donati explained. “It would have been a great matchup, but when you move to nine conference games, it’s just a lot to ask of your team year in and year out. This is the toughest league in the country. It’s a gauntlet. You want to put yourself in the best possible position to be in the tournament at the end of the year. This was a total mutual decision.”
Both the SEC and ACC recently voted to expand to a nine-game conference schedule, along with a new requirement for a 10th game against another Power Five opponent. For South Carolina, that nonconference heavyweight is already Clemson, meaning the addition of Miami would have created an 11th high-level matchup in consecutive seasons — a brutal slate by any standard.
According to Donati, it was actually Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich who made the first move to cancel.
“(Radakovich) called me a few weeks ago after the ACC voted to go to nine,” Donati recalled. “It was a pretty short conversation. He said, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘There’s a $3 million buyout in the way of this.’ And he said, ‘We would prefer to cancel this series, as well.’ That’s the skinny. That’s how it happened.”
The mutual decision ends what could have been a marquee national matchup between two major programs — and Donati understands why some fans are disappointed.
“I know the fans are disappointed,” he admitted. “But the challenge with any schedule in college athletics: it’s not like the NFL, where everyone plays the same schedule. If all 134 schools had the same type of schedule, that’d be fine. What you don’t want to do is put yourself at a disadvantage compared to your competition.”
With the Miami series gone, Donati and head coach Shane Beamer are already working behind the scenes to find a new opponent for 2026. While he didn’t drop any names, Donati confirmed discussions are underway.
“I don’t want to name the schools at this point, but we have some options,” he said with a laugh. “It’s not going to be Miami, I’ll be honest with you. There’s about five or six schools.”
Donati explained that scheduling at the Power Five level is far from simple.
“First of all, you have to see who is available,” he said. “Then you’ve got to negotiate a price to get them to Columbia. All of those things have to line up.”
The first-year athletic director also hinted that an announcement could be coming soon.
“We should have an announcement soon,” Donati teased. “I would anticipate it will be by the end of the month.”
As it stands, South Carolina’s 2026 nonconference lineup includes Clemson (away), Towson (home), and the now-vacant home slot once held by Miami. Their SEC schedule remains as challenging as ever, featuring road games at Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Oklahoma, with home matchups against Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
If Donati delivers on his promise, Gamecock fans may not have to wait long to learn who will replace Miami — and the next big matchup could be even more exciting.
