Bowl Projections 2021: What bowl will South Carolina football play in?

The South Carolina football team landed its sixth win of the season in late November with a 21-17 victory over Auburn. With the win, the Gamecocks qualified for a bowl game for the first time since 2018.

South Carolina doesn’t have the best bowl history in terms of number of appearances or success. The program ranks 12th in the SEC with 23 bowl trips, posting a 9-14 overall record in those matchups.

The Gamecocks appeared in eight bowls prior to the 1994 season, losing all eight. Recent success has been much better, however, with the team competing in 15 postseason matchups over the last 25 years. They’ve gone 9-6 in that span with wins over Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ohio State.

Where will South Carolina football play?

The Gamecocks last played in a bowl game in 2018. That was a matchup against Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (formerly the Belk Bowl). That seems to be a popular landing spot for Shane Beamer’s group again in 2021.

In fact, CBS Sports predicts that there will be a rematch of that 2018 meeting, projecting South Carolina and Virginia to square off in Charlotte once again this December.

The Gamecocks are familiar with playing in the Queen City having played in Bank of America Stadium a number of times over the years. Those instances include neutral site regular season games against NC State, East Carolina, and North Carolina, as well as that latest bowl matchup.

Sports Illustrated predicts the same opponent for the Gamecocks this bowl season just in a different venue. The site sees South Carolina facing off against Virginia in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. It would be the program’s first appearance in the bowl which is played in Dallas at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Sporting News pits the Gamecocks against a different ACC foe in the Gator Bowl. The outlet projects a matchup between South Carolina and Wake Forest down in the Sunshine State. It’s a location that the program has played in in the past and would present the Gamecocks with a foe that was ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams not so long ago.

Finally, maybe the most interesting projection. USA Today sees Shane Beamer facing off against his alma mater in Charlotte with the Gamecocks taking on Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. It would be the first matchup between the two schools since 1991 though they are scheduled to face off in the 2025 Chick-fil-a Kickoff event to open the season.

Any of these matchups would be exiting in their own right but a meeting with the Hokies is the most appealing. Charlotte is just an hour up the road from Columbia so you know Gamecock fans would make the trip. It also provides the best storyline with Beamer roaming the sidelines against his father’s former team.

South Carolina will soon know their fate as final selections will come following this weekend’s conference championships.