National bowl projections for South Carolina following Missouri loss

On Saturday, South Carolina dropped the Mayor’s Cup matchup against the Missouri Tigers. The 29-20 road loss moved the Gamecocks’ overall record to 2-2, and Shane Beamer’s group is now 0-2 in the Southeastern Conference.

Carolina has 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 has the Gamecocks in a bowl this winter, matching up the Gamecocks with the Duke Blue Devils in the Gasparilla Bowl. The December 19th contest in Tampa, Florida often takes a 6-win or 7-win team from the SEC, meaning an SEC program’s involvement in the game usually is representative of them being one of the final bowl-eligible teams in the conference. South Carolina has never played in the Gasparilla Bowl but was scheduled to do so against UAB in 2020 before a Covid cancellation. This is the second week in a row McMurphy has made the Gasparilla Bowl vs. Duke prediction. The Gamecocks and Blue Devils haven’t played since a tie in 1991.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura both have South Carolina going bowling. Last week, Bonagura left USC out of his projections, while Schlabach had the team in Duke’s Mayo Bowl. This week, Schlabach lists the Gamecocks as a participant in the Gasparilla Bowl, just like McMurphy. However, he paired up Carolina and the Virginia Cavaliers. Bonagura, though, has the team playing in the Birmingham Bowl against Old Dominion on December 29th. South Carolina played in the Birmingham Bowl in 2016 (a loss to South Florida) and in 2009 (a loss to UConn) when the game was called the Papa John’s Bowl. The Gamecocks’ last meeting with Virginia came in an embarrassing Belk Bowl shutout in 2018, while the 2024 team knocked off Old Dominion in the season opener.

A slightly better bowl projection came from Athlon’s Steven Lassan. Lassan foresees a trip to Memphis for the Liberty Bowl against the Kansas Jayhawks. South Carolina and Kansas have never played in football. The January 2nd bowl game has hosted the Gamecocks twice before. Steve Spurrier beat the Houston Cougars in 2006, while Joe Morrison’s team lost to Indiana in 1988.

CBS Sports bowl guru Jerry Palm also has South Carolina in the Liberty Bowl. Palm predicts a matchup with the BYU Cougars, one that would be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

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There are other outlets (like College Football News) that have the Gamecocks missing a bowl following the 2025 season. Coming into the year as a somewhat trendy College Football Playoff pick, that would be a major disappointment for Carolina.

The next opportunity to stack a win will come this Saturday. Williams-Brice Stadium will host the visiting Kentucky Wildcats for a 7:45 p.m. SEC showdown. SEC Network will broadcast the conference matchup, while the ESPN app will stream the action.

South Carolina has won three in a row in the series, including a 31-6 beatdown in Lexington last season.

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