National bowl projections for South Carolina following LSU defeat

On Saturday, South Carolina football dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The Gamecocks played a very winnable game against LSU but couldn’t overcome self-inflicted mistakes and poor pass protection, resulting in the 20-10 defeat.

Heading into four more games against top-15 opponents, the USC schedule doesn’t get easier. Carolina will host Oklahoma and Alabama before hitting the road for games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

The Gamecocks have made a bowl in three of four years under Beamer, but national college football pundits are somewhat split on the team’s chances of doing so in 2025.

Below, you can check out some of the latest national bowl projections for USC.

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On3’s Brett McMurphy projected South Carolina to the Texas Bowl for the third week in a row. This time, though, the veteran sportswriter selected the Houston Cougars as the team’s opponent. If McMurphy’s choice proves true, the December 27th postseason contest would be the Gamecocks’ first-ever Texas Bowl appearance. South Carolina and Houston last met in the 2006 Liberty Bowl, a 44-36 victory for Steve Spurrier’s squad.

Both Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura joined McMurphy with a Houston prediction. However, they differ with his choice of bowl game. The ESPN duo projected South Carolina to the Liberty Bowl on January 2nd. The Gamecocks haven’t played in the Liberty Bowl since the 2006 victory over Houston. ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) now only gives Carolina a 54.8% chance of reaching a bowl game this winter and lists the team as underdogs in all but two games the rest of the regular season.

Repeating his own pick from the last three weeks, Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan also put Shane Beamer’s team in the Liberty Bowl. Once again, he matched up the Gamecocks with the Cincinnati Bearcats. USC hasn’t played Cincinnati since the 1980s, when the ‘Cocks beat the Bearcats twice in Columbia.

Former CBS Sports bracket guru Jerry Palm left South Carolina out of his latest bowl projections. This is the third week in a row that Palm has predicted no postseason for the Gamecocks.

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There are other outlets that have followed Palm’s lead and have the Gamecocks missing a bowl after the 2025 season. Coming into the year as a somewhat trendy College Football Playoff pick, that would be a major disappointment for the program.

The next chance for South Carolina to earn a victory and improve their bowl chances will come on Saturday. Williams-Brice Stadium will play host to a matchup between the Gamecocks and the Oklahoma Sooners. Kickoff is slated for 12:45 p.m. SEC Network will handle the broadcast, while the ESPN app makes the contest streamable.

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