How College GameDay and SEC Nation picked South Carolina football vs. Kentucky

Shane Beamer's South Carolina football team is up in Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the first SEC contest of the 2024 season. With tough schedules awaiting both programs, the game is near must-win territory for the two SEC rivals as they seek a bowl berth at season's end.

SEC Nation is on site in Lexington, but because Kentucky is the host team, much more of the conversation focused on the 'Cats than the 'Cocks. Still, though, Marty Smith of Marty and McGee did a feature on the Jake Panus Walk-On Football Endowed Scholarship that all South Carolina football fans should check out here.

When it finally came time to pick the winner of the game, panelists Tim Tebow, Jordan Rodgers, and Paul Finebaum all picked the home team. Roman Harper was the only one who picked the Gamecocks, something that Finebaum chided as the "dumbest pick" of the day. Harper cited the Gamecocks' potential for getting turnovers as the reason for his pick.

About 5 hours north of Lexington, College GameDay was in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a top-10 matchup between the Michigan Wolverines and Texas Longhorns, but the GameDay crew also picked the winner of Gamecocks-Wildcats. Nick Saban, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso all picked UK (with Howard throwing unnecessary shade at Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, labeling him a "runner, not a thrower"). Pat McAfee predicted a South Carolina football victory, but with the way he announced his choice, it was unclear if he actually liked that pick, or if he was trying to make a joke about USC's mascot. Celebrity guest picker Michael Phelps, someone who notoriously enjoyed some time on the University of South Carolina's campus, picked the Gamecocks, as well.

Kickoff is slated for 3:30 PM ET, and the game will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.