South Carolina Football Future SEC Opponents Announced

Beginning with the 2026 football season, South Carolina will play Florida, Georgia and Kentucky each year for the next four seasons as part of the Southeastern Conference’s nine-game schedule format, announced Tuesday by the league office.

The Gamecocks will play the three annual opponents, and the remaining six conference games each year will rotate among the remaining SEC schools from 2026-29.  In the new format, South Carolina will play every SEC school at least once every two years, and every opponent home and away over four years.

For 2026 season, in alphabetical order, the Gamecocks will host Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M and travel to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma.

The schedule in 2027, in alphabetical order, has Carolina hosting Florida, LSU, Missouri and Texas and visiting Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.  Texas will be making its first-ever trip to Williams-Brice Stadium.

In 2028, in alphabetical order, the Gamecocks will host Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma while visiting Florida, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

In 2029, the final year of the rotation, in alphabetical order, Carolina will host Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and visit Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri and Texas.

“We play in the toughest conference in college football,” said South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer. “Competition is a core value of our program.  We look forward to competing against this challenging schedule in the years to come.”

The SEC schedule was built based on the priorities of traditional rivalries, geography, competitive fairness and alignment with existing non-conference home/away commitments.

“This schedule format is a win for our football program, our fans and all fans of college football,” said Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati.  “The Conference has put a tremendous amount of work into putting together a competitive, fair, and balanced schedule over the next four seasons.  We look forward to the start of this historic 9-game conference schedule beginning next season.”

Georgia returns to the Gamecock schedule after a two-year hiatus.  The rivalry is the most-played SEC series in South Carolina record books at 76 games.  The teams played every year from 1992, Carolina’s first year in the SEC until 2023.  Georgia leads the series, 55-19-2, including 22-10 in games while both are SEC members.

Geographically, Georgia’s campus is approximately 134 miles from Columbia, making it the fifth closest matchup in the SEC.

At 44 games played, South Carolina’s rivalry with Florida is the second most-played SEC series in the Gamecock football record books.  The teams played every year from 1992 until the 2023 season.  Florida owns a 31-10-3 lead in the series, including a 26-7-1 mark while both are SEC members.

South Carolina and Kentucky will play for the 37^th time this Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.  It is the fourth most-played rivalry in the Gamecock record books.  South Carolina leads the series, 21-14-1.  Up to this season, South Carolina has played only Kentucky and Vanderbilt in each of its SEC seasons.

South Carolina has traditionally played one of the toughest schedules in the nation.  Since 2018, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Gamecocks have an average schedule strength ranking of 15^th in the nation.  This season, Carolina’s ESPN FPI schedule strength ranking is 9^th in the nation.

In addition to the conference opponents, South Carolina annually plays Clemson to meet the league’s requirement of scheduling an opponent from either the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season.

The Williams-Brice Stadium Reimagined Project will begin following the 2025 season.  The multi-year project will take place between seasons and in various stages, will be able to be enjoyed by fans at Williams-Brice Stadium during the SEC four-year schedule.  For more information on the project, go to https://gamecocksonline.com/wbsreimagined/.

The 2026 SEC football schedule will be released by the league office in December, which will include dates for all of the season’s games.