On3 Roundtable: South Carolina vs. Oklahoma in 2024 will be full of storylines

As crazy as it sounds, South Carolina and Oklahoma have never faced each other on the football field. That will change in 2024 as the Gamecocks make their way to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to take on the Sooners, who will be fresh in the SEC at that time.

There are plenty of storylines in that game — perhaps none more prominent than Shane Beamer facing off against his old program. Beamer was an assistant head coach and tight ends coach at Oklahoma from 2018-20 before taking the South Carolina job, and it will mark the first time he’ll face his former program. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for Brent Venables, who spent nine years as an assistant at Clemson before returning to Oklahoma as head coach.

However, as GamecockCentral beat writer Wes Mitchell said, the game missed its biggest storyline by one year. Still, there’s plenty of excitement.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that this actually didn’t happen one year earlier because we could have gotten the Spencer Rattler revenge game against Oklahoma,” Mitchell told J.D. PicKell on On3 Roundtable. “People in our spots dream of having that matchup. But still you got some storylines here, man. You’ve got, obviously, a head coach there, Brent Venables, who had a long-standing run at Clemson. Obviously, Shane Beamer was an assistant at Oklahoma. These are two teams that have actually never played each other before the history of either program.

“So I’m excited, man. I know the fans are excited, too, just getting to see a new matchup on the field for South Carolina.”

More on South Carolina and Oklahoma’s draws during the 2024 SEC schedule reveal show

The 2024 season will be Oklahoma’s first as a member of the SEC after making the jump from the Big 12 along with Texas. The Sooners have quite the test awaiting them in their inaugural season, too. In addition to the matchup against South Carolina, they also host Alabama and Tennessee. The road schedule isn’t easy, either, with matchups against Auburn, Missouri, Ole Miss and LSU looming.

As for South Carolina, the Gamecocks also face LSU, Missouri and Ole Miss — although those games are at home, along with Texas A&M. Alabama is one of their road opponents in addition to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, along with the game against Oklahoma.

Dates and times for the 2024 SEC conference schedule will be announced at a later date.