Ahead of LSU game, ESPN projects South Carolina football to intriguing bowl games

Thanks to a big win over the Kentucky Wildcats last weekend, most outlets that were holding out on projecting the South Carolina football program to a bowl game at the end of the 2024 season have reversed course, and those who already picked the Gamecocks to go bowling have shifted their expectations to include Shane Beamer's team heading to some better bowl destinations.

This week, ahead of the Gamecocks' College GameDay appearance against the LSU Tigers, South Carolina received some new projections from ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura.

According to Schlabach's projection, the Gamecocks will take part in the Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee against the West Virginia Mountaineers, while Bonagura has South Carolina football heading out west to participate in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada alongside the Oregon State Beavers. This year's Liberty Bowl will be at 7:00 PM ET on December 27th, and this year's Las Vegas Bowl will be played on the same day at 10:30 PM ET. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN and streamed on the ESPN app.

South Carolina has never played in the Las Vegas Bowl but has been to the Liberty Bowl on two occasions, a loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in 1988 and a win over the Houston Cougars in 2006. If Schlabach's prediction comes to fruition, it mark the first meeting between the Gamecocks and Mountaineers since USC won the 1994 Carquest Bowl. Carolina has never played against Oregon State, so Bonagura's pick would be a first-time matchup.

Regardless of any projections after two games, things likely will change for the Gamecocks many times before the regular season ends. If USC beats LSU on Saturday, the Las Vegas Bowl and Liberty Bowl would be too low of a projection. If they lose, Carolina could be pushed back down to a trip to Shreveport or a smaller Florida bowl. Then, the rest of the schedule also could influence changes in bowl predictions, as well.

No matter what happens this fall, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer and his team have to return to some form of postseason play (even a small bowl game) if they hope to move the Gamecock program back onto a positive trajectory heading into 2025 and beyond.