South Carolina Gamecocks

SECColumbia, SCWilliams-Brice Stadium

2026: 3–⁠3 (1–⁠3 SEC). Last: won at No. 16 Florida 38–⁠19. Next: Tennessee, Saturday, Oct 24, 3:30 p.m. ET.

  1. W 57–⁠0Kent State
  2. W 45–⁠9Towson
  3. L 34–⁠41Mississippi State
  4. L 18–⁠49at No. 8 Alabama
  5. L 34–⁠35No. 24 Kentucky
  6. W 38–⁠19at No. 16 Florida
  7. Oct 24Tennessee
  8. Oct 31at Oklahoma
  9. Nov 7Texas A&M
  10. Nov 14at Arkansas
  11. Nov 21Georgia
  12. Nov 28at Clemson
  • Outfitted by Nike
  • Live mascot: Sir Big Spur

South Carolina has played football since 1892 and is 619–⁠601–⁠42 in the 1,262 games on record here, which start in 1902. Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 4, in 2013. They have won two Southern Conference titles (the last in 1941) and one Atlantic Coast Conference title, counting shared titles. George Rogers won the Heisman Trophy here in 1980. Since 1939, the NFL Draft has taken 137 players from here in its first seven rounds, 16 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took two players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 2 players and 2 coaches from South Carolina. Steve Spurrier (2005–⁠2015) won more games here than any other coach: 86. The most-played rival is Clemson: 122 meetings, Clemson leads 74–⁠44–⁠4. This season, under Shane Beamer, they’re 3–⁠3.

Résumé

All-time record
651–⁠628–⁠44 official; 619–⁠601–⁠42 on file; how we count
Postseason
10–⁠16 matches the official bowl record
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
0 of 186 ranked
Elo now
1541 60th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 43 · Composite No. 33 in FBS, Oct 17. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
2013 rated 1788
Conference titles
3 last in 1969
Seasons
123 since 1902, 1,262 games

Identity

Fight song
The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way
Mascot
Cocky
Band
Carolina Band since 1920, 375 members

2026 season 3–⁠3

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsKent StateW 57–⁠074%
Sep 12vsTowsonW 45–⁠985%
Sep 19vsMississippi StateL 34–⁠4161%
Sep 26at8AlabamaL 18–⁠4921%
Oct 3vs24KentuckyL 34–⁠3551%
Oct 10at16FloridaW 38–⁠1932%
Oct 24vsTennesseePreview38%
Oct 31atOklahomaPreview35%
Nov 7vsTexas A&MPreview51%
Nov 14atArkansasPreview51%
Nov 21vsGeorgiaPreview29%
Nov 28atClemsonPreview36%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

South Carolina’s Elo through 2026: 1515 going into the opener, 1541 after the latest game.150015251550Elo 1515 going in; beat Kent State 57–0Elo 1535 going in; beat Towson 45–9Elo 1544 going in; lost to Mississippi State 41–34Elo 1518 going in; lost to Alabama 49–18Elo 1505 going in; lost to Kentucky 35–34Elo 1498 going in; beat Florida 38–19Now: Elo 1541 after the latest game1541
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

Future schedule

2027–⁠34
20273 games: 3 home, non-conference only
20283 games: 2 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20292 games: 2 home, non-conference only
20302 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20311 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20321 game: 1 away, non-conference only
20332 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20342 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only

South Carolina’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, the next 8 seasons (3 more listed), as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of May 22, 2026). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

On the 2026 team

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at South Carolina.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Nike · Official source
Mascot
Cocky · Independently corroborated
Live mascot
Sir Big Spur (Old English Black Breasted Red Fighting Gamecock) · Official source
Radio flagship
WNKT-FM · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Nike, July 2026 through 2036. 10 years: $70M product, $5M cash, $2.5M extra product, 15% royalty. Nike flipped the Gamecocks from Under Armour.

  • The Daily Mississippian: South Carolina officially joined Nike
  • StateCollege.com: Nike flipped South Carolina from Under Armour
  • WIS, Aug 22, 2025: 10 years from July 1, 2026: $70M product, $5M cash, $2.5M extra product, 15% royalty

Before: Under Armour, 2007 through June 2026.

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1902

Best seasons ever
South Carolina end-of-season Elo from 1902 to 2026, best in 2013 at 1788.13001500170019001920194019601980200020202013 peak: Elo 1788
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

On Bluesky

From reporters and writers who cover college football, linked to their posts on Bluesky.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Shane Beamer2021–⁠202636–⁠33
Mike Bobo20200–⁠3
Will Muschamp2016–⁠202028–⁠30
Shawn Elliott20151–⁠5
Steve Spurrier2005–⁠201586–⁠49
Lou Holtz1999–⁠200433–⁠37
Brad Scott1994–⁠199823–⁠32–⁠1
Sparky Woods1989–⁠199324–⁠28–⁠3
Joe Morrison1983–⁠198839–⁠28–⁠2
Richard Bell19824–⁠7
Jim Carlen1975–⁠198145–⁠36–⁠1
Paul Dietzel1966–⁠197442–⁠53–⁠1
Marvin Bass1961–⁠196517–⁠29–⁠4
Warren Giese1956–⁠196028–⁠21–⁠1
Rex Enright1938–⁠195564–⁠69–⁠7
Johnnie McMillan19452–⁠4–⁠3
Doc Newton19443–⁠4–⁠2
J.P. Moran19435–⁠2
Don McCallister1935–⁠193713–⁠20–⁠1
Billy Laval1928–⁠193439–⁠26–⁠6
Harry Lightsey19274–⁠5
Branch Bocock1925–⁠192613–⁠7
Sol Metzger1920–⁠192426–⁠18–⁠2
Dixon Foster1917–⁠19194–⁠12–⁠1
Frank Dobson19182–⁠1–⁠1
Rice Warren19162–⁠7
N.B. Edgerton1912–⁠191519–⁠13–⁠3
John Neff1910–⁠19115–⁠8–⁠2
Christie Benet1904–⁠19093–⁠11–⁠1
C.R. Williams19038–⁠2
Bob Williams19021–⁠1

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesSC record
Clemson12244–⁠74–⁠4 ‡
Georgia7319–⁠52–⁠2
North Carolina6020–⁠36–⁠4
Wake Forest5634–⁠20–⁠2
NC State5526–⁠25–⁠4
The Citadel4837–⁠8–⁠3
Furman4526–⁠18–⁠1
Florida4511–⁠31–⁠3

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: Clemson, Georgia, Missouri, Texas A&M, North Carolina.

Every opponent (129)

Every program South Carolina has played, A to Z, with South Carolina’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

3, counting shared titles
Atlantic Coast Conference 1
1969
Southern Conference 2
1933 (shared), 1941 (shared)
SEC East 1
2010

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1892–⁠1921
  2. ACC 1953–⁠1970
  3. Independent 1971–⁠1991
  4. SEC since 1992
  • 1953Joined the ACC from the SoCon. Source
  • 1971Went independent from the ACC. Source
  • 1992Joined the SEC from independence in football. Source

South Carolina’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

National award winners

All awards
2024Kyle Kennard DENagurski
2012Jadeveon Clowney DEHendricks
1984Joe Morrison coachWalter Camp Coach
1980George Rogers RBHeisman

Consensus All-Americans 5

2024Kyle Kennard DL
2012Jadeveon Clowney DL
2011Melvin Ingram DE
1984Del Wilkes OG
1980George Rogers RB

Led the nation 2

1996Marcus Robinson yards per catch (24.0)
1980George Rogers rushing yards (1,781 yds)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
2
Coaches
2
2017Steve Spurrier coach here, 2005–⁠2015
2014Sterling Sharpe WR
2008Lou Holtz coach here, 1999–⁠2004
1997George Rogers RB

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
137 since 1939
First-round picks
16
AAFC and AFL picks
2 1949, 1963
2024Xavier Legette WRNo. 32, Carolina Panthers
2021Jaycee Horn CBNo. 8, Carolina Panthers
2020Javon Kinlaw DTNo. 14, San Francisco 49ers
2018Hayden Hurst TENo. 25, Baltimore Ravens
2014Jadeveon Clowney DENo. 1, Houston Texans
2012Stephon Gilmore CBNo. 10, Buffalo Bills
2012Melvin Ingram DENo. 18, San Diego Chargers
2006Johnathan Joseph DBNo. 24, Cincinnati Bengals

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

University of South Carolina-Columbia
Enrollment
38,532 30,187 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Columbia, South Carolina
Public or private
Public Research 1
Founded
1801
Graduates’ median earnings
$62,177 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @GamecockFBInstagram @gamecockfbFacebook GamecockFootball

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones gamecocksonline.com lists for its football program, as of Oct 12, 2026.

On the newsreel

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Books

And 8 more

Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20263–⁠31–⁠3Shane Beamer15419.9
20254–⁠81–⁠713Shane Beamer15235.9
20249–⁠45–⁠319Shane Beamer165916.9
20235–⁠73–⁠5Shane Beamer15194.3
20228–⁠54–⁠423Shane Beamer157312.7
20217–⁠63–⁠5Shane Beamer15053.9
20202–⁠82–⁠8Will Muschamp, Mike Bobo1406-2.4
20194–⁠83–⁠5Will Muschamp14784.8
20187–⁠64–⁠4Will Muschamp154514.9
20179–⁠45–⁠3Will Muschamp16057.8
20166–⁠73–⁠5Will Muschamp1475-4.0
20153–⁠91–⁠7Steve Spurrier, Shawn Elliott15003.4
20147–⁠63–⁠59Steve Spurrier163317.4
201311–⁠26–⁠264Steve Spurrier178819.8
201211–⁠26–⁠298Steve Spurrier176216.1
201111–⁠26–⁠2129Steve Spurrier171918.6
20109–⁠55–⁠322Steve Spurrier164020.3
20097–⁠63–⁠5Steve Spurrier154513.9
20087–⁠64–⁠4Steve Spurrier15467.8
20076–⁠63–⁠5Steve Spurrier154116.2
20068–⁠53–⁠5Steve Spurrier160819.1
20057–⁠55–⁠3Steve Spurrier15296.3
20046–⁠54–⁠4Lou Holtz15106.4
20035–⁠72–⁠6Lou Holtz14579.2
20025–⁠73–⁠522Lou Holtz14880.4
Every season back to 1902 (98 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20019–⁠35–⁠32113Lou Holtz160617.5
20008–⁠45–⁠319Lou Holtz155816.6
19990–⁠110–⁠8Lou Holtz1291-13.0
19981–⁠100–⁠8Brad Scott1368-6.7
19975–⁠63–⁠5Brad Scott14998.8
19966–⁠54–⁠4Brad Scott15267.6
19954–⁠6–⁠12–⁠5–⁠1Brad Scott14830.4
19947–⁠54–⁠4Brad Scott15385.7
19934–⁠72–⁠6Sparky Woods14691.8
19925–⁠63–⁠5Sparky Woods14992.5
19913–⁠6–⁠2Sparky Woods14773.2
19906–⁠5Sparky Woods153316.8
19896–⁠4–⁠1Sparky Woods15346.0
19888–⁠419Joe Morrison15483.5
19878–⁠415Joe Morrison161527.2
19863–⁠6–⁠2Joe Morrison148011.1
19855–⁠617Joe Morrison1488-5.7
198410–⁠211Joe Morrison161113.3
19835–⁠6Joe Morrison14993.7
19824–⁠7Richard Bell14610.4
19816–⁠6Jim Carlen15539.2
19808–⁠4Jim Carlen158319.5
19798–⁠4Jim Carlen158116.0
19785–⁠5–⁠1Jim Carlen14957.7
19775–⁠7Jim Carlen14586.8
19766–⁠5Jim Carlen15058.9
19757–⁠5Jim Carlen14955.1
19744–⁠7Paul Dietzel1428-7.9
19737–⁠4Paul Dietzel15308.6
19724–⁠7Paul Dietzel1433-4.5
19716–⁠5Paul Dietzel14894.4
19704–⁠6–⁠13–⁠2–⁠117Paul Dietzel14909.4
19697–⁠46–⁠0Paul Dietzel1536
19684–⁠64–⁠3Paul Dietzel1490
19675–⁠54–⁠2Paul Dietzel1419
19661–⁠91–⁠3Paul Dietzel1367
19655–⁠54–⁠2Marvin Bass1458
19643–⁠5–⁠22–⁠3–⁠1Marvin Bass1417
19631–⁠8–⁠11–⁠5–⁠1Marvin Bass1365
19624–⁠5–⁠13–⁠4Marvin Bass1491
19614–⁠63–⁠4Marvin Bass1443
19603–⁠6–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Warren Giese1442
19596–⁠44–⁠314Warren Giese1490
19587–⁠35–⁠215Warren Giese1563
19575–⁠52–⁠5Warren Giese1488
19567–⁠35–⁠2Warren Giese1517
19553–⁠61–⁠5Rex Enright1419
19546–⁠43–⁠3Rex Enright1550
19537–⁠32–⁠3Rex Enright1567
19525–⁠53–⁠4Rex Enright1481
19515–⁠45–⁠3Rex Enright1529
19503–⁠4–⁠22–⁠4–⁠1Rex Enright1457
19494–⁠63–⁠3Rex Enright1459
19483–⁠51–⁠3Rex Enright1432
19476–⁠2–⁠14–⁠1–⁠1Rex Enright1502
19465–⁠34–⁠2Rex Enright1443
19452–⁠4–⁠30–⁠2–⁠2Johnnie McMillan1398
19443–⁠4–⁠21–⁠3Doc Newton1423
19435–⁠22–⁠1J.P. Moran1442
19421–⁠7–⁠11–⁠4Rex Enright1365
19414–⁠4–⁠14–⁠0–⁠1Rex Enright1448
19403–⁠61–⁠3Rex Enright1385
19393–⁠6–⁠11–⁠3Rex Enright1356
19386–⁠4–⁠12–⁠2Rex Enright1475
19375–⁠6–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Don McCallister1361
19365–⁠72–⁠5Don McCallister1365
19353–⁠71–⁠4Don McCallister1349
19345–⁠42–⁠3Billy Laval1460
19336–⁠3–⁠13–⁠0Billy Laval1529
19325–⁠4–⁠22–⁠2–⁠2Billy Laval1486
19315–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Billy Laval1500
19306–⁠44–⁠3Billy Laval1448
19296–⁠52–⁠5Billy Laval1485
19286–⁠2–⁠22–⁠2–⁠1Billy Laval1489
19274–⁠52–⁠4Harry Lightsey1414
19266–⁠44–⁠2Branch Bocock1536
19257–⁠32–⁠2Branch Bocock1527
19247–⁠33–⁠2Sol Metzger1481
19234–⁠60–⁠4Sol Metzger1450
19225–⁠40–⁠3Sol Metzger1496
19215–⁠1–⁠2Sol Metzger1472
19205–⁠4Sol Metzger1374
19191–⁠7–⁠1Dixon Foster1307
1918few games on file2–⁠1–⁠1Frank Dobson1415
19173–⁠5Dixon Foster1371
19162–⁠7Rice Warren1332
19155–⁠3–⁠1N.B. Edgerton1466
19145–⁠5–⁠1N.B. Edgerton1440
19134–⁠3N.B. Edgerton1482
19125–⁠2–⁠1N.B. Edgerton1477
19111–⁠4–⁠2John Neff1345
19104–⁠4John Neff1361
19092–⁠6Christie Benet1361
1908few games on file0–⁠3Christie Benet1420
1905few games on file0–⁠1Christie Benet1500
1904few games on file1–⁠1–⁠1Christie Benet1527
19038–⁠2C.R. Williams1568
1902few games on file1–⁠1Bob Williams1497

Officially 651–⁠628–⁠44 since 1892 (per Wikipedia, as of 10/10/26); game by game here, 619–⁠601–⁠42 (−32 wins, −27 losses, −2 ties). Our file starts in 1902; the program began in 1892. Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1906–⁠07: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.