Gamecocks’ Muschamp praises how fans have, will travel for bowl

As South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp ran down his thoughts on the Gamecocks' pending trip to the Birmingham Bowl against South Florida, he made sure to tip his hat to the reputation USC fans have in this arena.

It also doubled as a little prediction.

"One of the huge attractions that any bowl site has is how we travel," Muschamp said. "And our fans will travel well to support this football team, support these young men. We certainly appreciate that."

Gamecocks fans traveled extremely well the last time the team made a trip to Birmingham, but many also have vivid memories of a cold, blustery day and South Carolina's lackluster performance in a loss.

USC fans didn't travel particularly well for the team's last bowl game, the Independence in Shreveport, La., but that was the day after Christmas at the tail end of a highly-disappointing 2014 season.

The allure of a lower-tier bowl remains to be seen after the Gamecocks surprised with six wins this season but also had a bad loss to Clemson to close the year.

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Gamecocks’ Muschamp praises how fans have, will travel for bowl."