The fate of the 2024 South Carolina football has been a widely-debated topic.
In the preseason, Shane Beamer's squad was projected by national analysts to win anywhere from 4 games to 8 games, making the Gamecocks one of the country's teams with the biggest projection variance. Now, through four weeks of the season, it appears those higher on USC will be more accurate in their prediction as Carolina is 3-1 and seems destined for some form of postseason play after missing out on a bowl game after the 2023 campaign.
On Sunday, 247Sports analyst Brad Crawford released his updated projections for bowl season, and he has South Carolina football facing off against a dynamic offensive team in the Arizona Wildcats in the Autozone Liberty Bowl. Paired with the Gamecocks' strong defense, the matchup quietly could be one of the best non-College Football Playoff games of bowl season.
While both teams are very much still in their respective conference championship races, Arizona has a much cleaner path (see also: an easier schedule) to the Big 12 Championship Game than South Carolina has to the SEC title matchup in Atlanta. If those pursuits are not fulfilled, a trip to Memphis, Tennessee certainly could be in the cards. Based on history, winning anywhere from 6-8 games could put the Gamecocks or Wildcats in the Liberty Bowl.
When Carolina was an Independent for about twenty years, they played against a handful of teams out west (most namely the "other USC" University of Southern California Trojans), but Arizona wasn't one of those teams. In fact, despite both programs being around for a long time, the Gamecocks and Wildcats have never met on the gridiron at any point.
While Arizona may be unfamiliar to the South Carolina football program, the Liberty Bowl is not as the team has played in the Memphis-based bowl game two times previously.
Back in 1988, the Gamecocks faced off against the Indiana Hoosiers, losing an ugly bowl game to give a disappointing finish to back-to-back 8-win regular seasons. After just 53 yards and 0 points in the 1st half, Joe Morrison's team managed just 1 touchdown in the 2nd half (on a blocked punt) and fell to Indiana 34-10 in what would be The Man in Black's final game before his offseason death.
18 years later, Carolina got a little Liberty Bowl redemption with a 2006 appearance in the game. Defeating a Houston Cougars team led by future NFL quarterback Kevin Kolb, the Gamecocks racked up 44 points in a fun offensive performance that saw head coach Steve Spurrier dial up ball plays that led to Sidney Rice and Kenny McKinley combining for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air.
For now, though, the Gamecocks have a game against a recently defeated Ole Miss Rebels squad next up on the docket. The two teams will meet on Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 PM ET kickoff at Williams-Brice Stadium that will be broadcast on ESPN and streamed on the ESPN app.