South Carolina bowl projections: Florida looking more likely, but where?

The bowl projections are starting to point South Carolina toward the Sunshine State.

But where is the question.

Of eight high-profile bowl projections, five have South Carolina headed to a Florida Bowl. Two (ESPN’s David Hale, Sports Illustrated) are sending USC to the Outback Bowl in Orlando. Two (USAToday, CBSSports) have the Gamecocks in the Jacksonville TaxSlayer Bowl. SBNation has been the most ambitious, projecting a USC win against Clemson and a spot in the Citrus Bowl (it has an SEC playoff team and two more in the New Year’s Six).

At the moment, the SEC has stratified to a degree. Auburn, Alabama and Georgia are out ahead, but then there’s a group of South Carolina, LSU, Mississippi State and Kentucky. All are in line to finish with eight or nine wins, in a jumble for those three bowls, plus perhaps Music City and Belk (unlikely for the Gamecocks).

Bowl projections

▪  SBNation projected South Carolina will face Virginia Tech in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on New Year’s Day.

▪  ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura sent USC to the Belk Bowl on Dec. 29 in Charlotte against Wake Forest. David Hale went with a New Year’s Day Outback Bowl against Penn State

▪  CBSSports’ Jerry Palm put the Gamecocks in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Dec. 30 in Jacksonville against Virginia Tech.

▪  SI.com had USC heading to the Outback Bowl vs. Michigan.

▪  Bleacher Report slotted South Carolina in the Texas Bowl against West Virginia.

▪  CollegeFootballNews put the Gamecocks in Charlotte in the Belk Bowl against Georgia Tech.

▪  USAToday slotted the Gamecocks in the TaxSlayer Bowl against Northwestern.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "South Carolina bowl projections: Florida looking more likely, but where?."