The 2024 version of the South Carolina football team will face a tough schedule this fall (as they always do), but the slate isn't set to be quite as daunting as it has in some recent years. The 2023 schedule was ranked by multiple outlets as the #1 or #2 schedule in terms of overall difficulty, but 2024, theoretically, will be a little lighter.
According to College Football Network, the Gamecocks have the 14th-most difficult schedule in America. That translates to 7th in the SEC as the Florida Gators, Oklahoma Sooners, Alabama Crimson Tide, Vanderbilt Commodores, Arkansas Razorbacks, and Mississippi State Bulldogs are all ahead of USC.
247Sports' Brad Crawford ranks the schedule as the 4th-hardest in the nation (and 4th-hardest in the SEC) behind only the Florida Gators, Oklahoma Sooners, and Arkansas Razorbacks.
College Football News clearly doesn't value the SEC schedule as highly as most outlets as they view the Gamecocks as having the 30th overall strength of schedule in the sport. Only two SEC teams (the Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores) are included in the top-10 from CFN.
Based on ESPN's FPI (Football Power Index), South Carolina football sits at #17 in overall strength of schedule and 11th in the SEC. The top-8 on the list are all from the Southeastern Conference and so are 15 of the top-23.
On a scale of opponents' win-loss percentage alone (thanks to SportsIllustrated for compiling the numbers), the Gamecocks are 25th in college football in strength of schedule.
All of these rankings tell a similar story: the 2024 South Carolina football schedule is very difficult, but it can be more easily navigated than last year. Will the results on the field improve as the schedule lightens a bit? Gamecock fans certainly hope so.
Year four of the Shane Beamer era kicks off at Williams-Brice Stadium on August 31st against the Old Dominion Monarchs, and the Gamecocks are hopeful that a likely win can propel them to a strong season. USC must bounce back from a sub-par 5-7 showing to put the program back on a positive trajectory in the SEC.