June 3, 2008

Each of the first three University of South Carolina football games scheduled this fall will be nationally televised, it was announced today.

“It appears we will be one of the most televised teams in the country again this season and we will try our best to compete like one of the best teams in the country,” said Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier.

The Gamecocks’ season and home opener against North Carolina State, scheduled for Thursday, August 28, will be televised nationally by ESPN, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The Gamecocks and Wolfpack have not met since the 1999 season. NC State holds a slim 26-25-4 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1900.

The Gamecocks’ conference and road opener at Vanderbilt, set for Thursday, September 4, will also be televised nationally by ESPN. Game time from Nashville, Tenn. is set for 8:30 p.m. ET. South Carolina holds a 14-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Commodores, but the Gamecocks will be looking for revenge following a 17-6 loss to VU in 2007.

CBS Sports will televise the Georgia at South Carolina game, set for Saturday, September 13. That national broadcast is slated for a 3:30 p.m. ET kick. The Georgia contest will mark the fourth straight year that CBS has televised a Gamecock football game and will be their first appearance in Columbia since 2005 when they carried the Alabama-South Carolina tilt. Georgia leads the all-time series 44-14-2, but the Gamecocks won by a 16-12 count last year in Athens.

The Gamecocks had seven national television exposures in 2007, appearing three times each on ESPN and on ESPN2 and once on CBS.

Additional televised games will be announced as they become available.