ESPN projects South Carolina football to another Florida bowl game

With a 5-7 season the most recent result for the South Carolina football program, the first goal for 2024 has to be getting back to a bowl game. The Gamecocks' ceiling is higher than the 6-win threshold for bowls, but Shane Beamer's team will have to show on the field the offseason improvements they've made to ensure postseason life.

In two recent projections, ESPN has predicted the Gamecocks to win 6 games this fall, and on Wednesday, the "worldwide leader" revealed their preseason picks for the College Football Playoff and bowl season.

Analysts Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura worked together to predict every matchup in bowl season, and though they differ on opponents, both men agree on Carolina's bowl destination. According to Schlabach and Bonagura, the Gamecocks will return to Tampa, Florida (their most common bowl destination city) and play in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Schlabach has USC matched up against the West Virginia Mountaineers, while Bonagura thinks they will play the Syracuse Orange.

Played at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Gasparilla Bowl has been played since 2008 (then in St. Petersburg) and has been known as the St. Petersburg Bowl and the Beef O'Brady's Bowl previously. South Carolina football has played in Tampa a lot over the years (mostly in the Outback Bowl), but the Gamecocks have never been to the Gasparilla Bowl, though, they received an invitation to the 2020 game before it was canceled due to Covid.

Other bowl projections this preseason have seen the Gamecocks put right on the cut line. Some, including the most recent one from CBS Sports' Jerry Palm, have left South Carolina out of bowl season, indicating they are predicting a losing season for USC. Others have mocked Carolina to bowl games of similar standing to the Gasparilla Bowl, indicating a projected 6-6 or 7-5 regular season finish.