The South Carolina football schedule is a gauntlet every season. Year after year, the Gamecocks play a full SEC slate and the rival Clemson Tigers. Many years, USC also plays against another quality opponent, often from the ACC and/or from the state of North Carolina (this year, that’s a season opener against Virginia Tech). Because of that scheduling model, it comes as no surprise that Shane Beamer’s team ranks near the top of college football in strength of schedule metrics.
This week, in conjunction with their SP+ power rankings, ESPN also released its strength of schedule rankings. According to the rankings, South Carolina’s schedule sits at No. 7 in the country. The Gamecocks’ slate has a .795 rating, just a touch off of Vanderbilt’s .794 mark and fifth place. Because of the team’s corresponding 15.4 SP+ (16th-best in the country), ESPN projects USC to win about 7.2 games.
Per ESPN analytics guru Bill Connelly, “The SOS rating is the projected win% an average top-5 team could expect against your schedule.”
Essentially, ESPN’s strength of schedule metric believes a top-5 team would win about 9.5 games against South Carolina’s schedule. Based on these metrics, the Gamecocks would have to outperform expectations (something they have done three out of four years under Beamer) to have a chance to take the next step and make the College Football Playoff.
For those unfamiliar with the Gamecocks’ 2025 schedule, ESPN’s assessment isn’t too farfetched. As the team showed this year, success isn’t impossible against a difficult slate, but nothing will come easy.
South Carolina starts the year with a neutral site contest against Virginia Tech in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Then, the Gamecocks get back-to-back home games against South Carolina State and Vanderbilt. A trip to the “other Columbia” to face Missouri is next, but USC will return home for a date with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Then, after a bye week, things get really difficult.
South Carolina plays five of its toughest games in a row. First, Beamer and company have to go to Death Valley to face the LSU Tigers. Then, consecutive home games against Oklahoma and Alabama come before another road game against Ole Miss. Following a second bye week, the Gamecocks will play Texas A&M in College Station.
In the season’s penultimate showdown, Carolina gets a slight reprieve but has to fend off a Coastal Carolina team that would love to knock off its in-state big brother. Then, a much bigger in-state contest awaits as the rival Clemson Tigers come to Columbia in game 12.
