‘No disrespect to Birmingham’: Gamecocks moving up bowl food chain

The weather in Charlotte wasn’t great on Friday, the eve of the Belk Bowl and end of South Carolina’s 2018 football season, but the Gamecocks still were happy not to be in Birmingham … or Shreveport.

“I went to the Birmingham Bowl,” South Carolina senior safety Steven Montac said. “I mean, no disrespect to Birmingham, it’s just not where you want to be. Last year, we went to Outback Bowl. This year, we’re here. We have definitely improved going from Birmingham being cold all day.”

The Gamecocks (7-5) will face Virginia (7-5) on Saturday in Bank of America Stadium at noon on ABC. In terms of the SEC’s pecking order, the Belk Bowl is not near the top of the list, but still it represents progress for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks’ fifth-year seniors started their postseason careers at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., in 2014. The next year was Birmingham, Ala., for the Birmingham Bowl. Last year’s 8-4 regular season resulted in a Florida bowl trip for the Outback Bowl.

“This bowl site is probably the best bowl site we’ve had since I’ve been here starting in Shreveport five years ago,” senior tight end Jacob August said. “This is a big upgrade. That’s something to be happy about as a senior class.”

The Gamecocks are 5.5-point favorites Saturday. They have won five of their last six bowl games.

“A win Saturday is just going to build for the future,” tight end K.C. Crosby said. “Coach (Will) Muschamp and this staff have this program headed in the right direction. Every year we have advanced (the program). Things have picked up and you have a lot of guys who are maturing more, too.”

South Carolina can notch back-to-back seasons of at least eight wins for the seventh time in school history with a victory.

“Anytime you get another win in the win column it’s obviously a big deal,” wide receiver Bryan Edwards said. “There haven’t been a lot of eight-win teams here at South Carolina. I feel pretty confident in our game plan and what we have in store.”

Next year, Montac expects the Gamecocks to advance their postseason progress even further, much further.

“Next year, I expect them to be in Atlanta (for the SEC Championship Game),” he said.