South Carolina bowl projections: More enthusiasm for a return trip to Florida

With its victory this weekend over Ole Miss, South Carolina football solidified its chances of going to a bowl game, which already improved late last week with the announcement of a 12th game against Akron.

Now at 5-3, the Gamecocks will almost certainly defeat Chattanooga on Nov. 17 to clinch bowl eligibility and will be favored to take down Akron for a seventh win. The question now becomes whether Will Muschamp’s squad can now knock off Florida on the road this upcoming Saturday to set itself up for another eight-win season and an even strong bowl bid.

It seems as thought a plurality of bowl projectors from major national media outlets like South Carolina’s chances.

Of nine predictions released by Monday, four have the Gamecocks visiting Florida for a second consecutive postseason, playing in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against a variety of Big Ten opponents. Since the SEC re-partnered with the game in 2010, every conference representative has had at least seven wins, with five of those eight teams having eight wins or more.

USC has played in the Gator Bowl four times in program history, losing every game.

If Carolina doesn’t wind up in Jacksonville, two bowl projections each have it going to Memphis for the Liberty Bowl or just up the road to Charlotte for the Belk Bowl.

Where the Gamecocks end up will also depend on how the rest of the SEC shakes out — currently, seven teams sit in front of South Carolina in the conference standings.

SOUTH CAROLINA BOWL PROJECTIONS

▪ ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura — Liberty Bowl (Memphis) vs. Oklahoma State, Dec. 31

▪ ESPN’s Mitch Sherman — Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) vs. Purdue, Dec. 31

▪ Sports Illustrated — Belk Bowl (Charlotte) vs. Duke, Dec. 29

▪ CBS Sports — Liberty Bowl (Memphis) vs. Baylor, Dec. 31

▪ SB Nation — Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) vs. Purdue, Dec. 31

▪ 247Sports — Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) vs. Penn State, Dec. 31

▪ College Football News — Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) vs. Michigan State, Dec. 31

▪ Sporting News — Texas Bowl (Houston) vs. Texas Tech, Dec. 27

▪ Bleacher Report — Belk Bowl (Charlotte) vs. Boston College, Dec. 29

*A previous version of this article stated that the Gator Bowl will take place on Dec. 27. It will take place on Dec. 31.

This story was originally published November 5, 2018 at 3:15 PM.