South Carolina football: Gamecocks and Tar Heels renew rivalry

South Carolina football will renew its series with the ACC foe.

South Carolina football has announced that it will renew its border war with the North Carolina Tar Heels on the gridiron, planning a home and home series for the years 2028 and 2029. The announcement means the non-conference slate for those two seasons is halfway set, with UNC joining archrival Clemson on the Gamecocks’ schedule.

The foes last met on the football field in 2019, which ended in a 24-20 Tar Heel victory. North Carolina scored the game’s final 15 points to escape with the close win, overcoming a 20-9 fourth quarter deficit. The Gamecocks will look for revenge in 2023, where the two teams will meet again in Charlotte to kick off the season in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium.

These two programs have faced off a total of 56 times, third most of any opponent in school history. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 33-19-4, though the Gamecocks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. The rivalry dates back to South Carolina’s days in the Southern Conference and ACC, with the two meeting for the first time back in 1903.

It appears that both of these newly announced matchups will be season openers. The first is set to be played on September 2, 2028 in Williams-Brice Stadium, while the second will take place on September 1, 2029 in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina becomes the fourth ACC school to join the schedule for the 2020s, as the Gamecocks have future dates set with Clemson, Miami (’26 & ’27), and Virginia Tech (Chick-fil-a Kickoff ’25).