Bowl for Gamecocks? It’s still technically possible, and players say they’d welcome it
It’s worth starting with the caveat: A South Carolina bowl trip isn’t highly likely.
But in a weird, COVID-19 pandemic-altered season, it’s not yet impossible and not officially ruled out for the 2-7 Gamecocks.
Every college football team is eligible to go bowling this season. There’s no six-win minimum requirement like in normal years.
Some bowls have already been canceled, but Gamecocks coach Mike Bobo on Tuesday said his team hasn’t specifically had such a trip ruled out yet by athletic director Ray Tanner.
“He has not, and I haven’t asked,” Bobo said. “I’m focused on getting this team ready for Kentucky. It’s going to be a tough football game in some elements, and that’s been our focus.”
Before going further, let’s explain exactly why this could happen.
The SEC has nine tie-ins for bowls that are not part of the New Year’s Six games. With Florida, Texas A&M and Alabama looking like near-locks for those games — and Georgia not looking like a bad bet — that would mean almost every SEC team could be in play for one more game.
Bowls tend to fall back on conference tie-ins until they run out of eligible teams, but this year that’s obviously not in play.
Some bowls won’t happen, and some schools will almost assuredly balk at the cost of flying a team in and out of somewhere for a few days (not to mention, teams at the end of a bad season might not want to play another game). USC itself played last week down 25 players from its opening day roster.
But South Carolina’s players on Tuesday sounded like they’d be up for one more go after facing Kentucky this weekend in the regular-season finale.
“I’d love any opportunity to play against somebody and try to get a win and dominate somebody,” fullback Adam Prentice said. “I welcome that challenge.”
Freshman quarterback Luke Doty added: “I definitely think that’s something that’s definitely out there for us. We’re gonna welcome any opportunity to play. ... When that opportunity presents itself, we’re gonna be ready to go with whoever it is and wherever it is.”
South Carolina has a 9-14 all-time record in bowl games, including 1-2 under now-fired Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks defeated Michigan in the Outback Bowl after the 2017 season to finish 9-4 at a high-water mark of the Muschamp era.
ESPN’s bowl projections for 2020 have the Gamecocks in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa the day after Christmas.
The most interesting dynamic might be how things look with a new coach settling into place for the Gamecocks. When there’s a coaching change, a team that earned a bowl game still typically plays in the game — with a previous staff looking for new jobs while also assembling a game plan.
A two- or three-win team having that chance while going through a coaching change, however, is uncharted territory.
There might be some value in a new coach getting a chance to see his new players in a practice session and be around them more. The alternative is that the team breaks up for most of December.
But the Gamecocks, for the moment, are looking toward the game ahead against Kentucky — and are at least interested in one more after that.
“We haven’t really talked too much about it because we haven’t heard much about it,” wide receiver Dakereon Joyner said. “But it is what it is. If we’re invited to a bowl game, we’re more than happy to go compete, as always, for our university and for our fans.”
South Carolina’s last five bowl games
- Capital One Bowl (Jan. 1, 2014): USC defeats Wisconsin 34-24
- Independence Bowl (Dec. 27, 2014): USC defeats Miami 24-21
- Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 19, 2016): South Florida defeats USC
- Outback Bowl (Jan. 1, 2018): USC defeats Michigan 26-19
- Belk Bowl (Dec. 29, 2018): Virginia defeats USC 28-0
