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1997 South Carolina

5–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Brad Scott.

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 1997, game by game: won vs. UCF 33–31; lost at Georgia 15–31; won at East Carolina 26–0; lost at Mississippi State 17–37; lost vs. No. 8 Auburn 6–23; won vs. Kentucky 38–24; won at Arkansas 39–13; won vs. Vanderbilt 35–3; lost at No. 8 Tennessee 7–22; lost vs. No. 12 Florida 21–48; lost vs. Clemson 21–47+32−27Won 33–31 vs. UCF+2UCFLost 15–31 at Georgia-16GeorgiaWon 26–0 at East Carolina+26East CarolinaLost 17–37 at Mississippi State-20Mississippi Sta…Lost 6–23 vs. No. 8 Auburn-17No. 8 AuburnWon 38–24 vs. Kentucky+14KentuckyWon 39–13 at Arkansas+26ArkansasWon 35–3 vs. Vanderbilt+32VanderbiltLost 7–22 at No. 8 Tennessee-15No. 8 TennesseeLost 21–48 vs. No. 12 Florida-27No. 12 FloridaLost 21–47 vs. Clemson-26Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsUCFW 33–⁠3171%
Sep 13atGeorgiaL 15–⁠3141%
Sep 20atEast CarolinaW 26–⁠032%
Sep 27atMississippi StateL 17–⁠3753%
Oct 4vs8AuburnL 6–⁠2339%
Oct 11vsKentuckyW 38–⁠2455%
Oct 18atArkansasW 39–⁠1349%
Oct 25vsVanderbiltW 35–⁠376%
Nov 1at8TennesseeL 7–⁠2221%
Nov 15vs12FloridaL 21–⁠4831%
Nov 22vsClemsonL 21–⁠4757%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 47–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1997.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
258–⁠279
Coach
Brad Scott
Elo
1499 −19 this season
SP+ rating
8.8 No. 41 of 112; offense No. 47, defense No. 37
SRS
7.1 No. 35 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
John Eason
Defensive coordinator
Wally Burnham
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 5Darren Hambrick LBDallas Cowboys
Rd 6Lee Wiggins DBTennessee Oilers

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jamar NesbitOTAP-2
  • Henry TaylorDTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee7–⁠111–⁠27
Florida6–⁠210–⁠24
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠210
Auburn6–⁠210–⁠311
LSU6–⁠29–⁠313
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠422
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠4
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠6
Alabama2–⁠64–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.