South Carolina’s latest bowl projections ahead of football rivalry game with Clemson
Another Florida destination and a possible trip out West have emerged for South Carolina in the latest round of college football bowl projections.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has the Gamecocks going to Orlando for the Citrus Bowl to face Illinois on Dec. 31. The Citrus Bowl is the top bowl for Southeastern Conference teams that don’t make the playoffs.
Kyle Bonagura, Schlabach’s co-worker at ESPN, has the Gamecocks going to Nashville for the Music City Bowl and facing Minnesota on Dec. 30.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm is the lone predictor who has South Carolina going to the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27 to go against Washington State, one of the two remaining members of the Pac-12.
The Sporting News and USA Today projections have the Gamecocks going to Jacksonville to face Louisville in the Gator Bowl.
Action Network’s Bret McMurphy, 247Sports and Athlon Sports put South Carolina in Tampa for the Reliaquest Bowl on Dec. 31 against Iowa.
While Gamecock fans are excited about going to a bowl, they are holding out hope that South Carolina can make it to the College Football Playoff, which expands to 12 teams this year. The Gamecocks were No. 18 in last week’s rankings and should move up when the new ones are released Tuesday evening on ESPN.
South Carolina (8-3) won its fifth-straight game Saturday against Wofford and will travel to rival Clemson this week in a matchup of two ranked in-state teams.
“South Carolina’s very much in the playoff conversation after a bevy of results that needed to happen for the Gamecocks have come to fruition over the last two weeks, including a variety of SEC upsets,” 247Sports Brad Crawford wrote. “Shane Beamer’s team is red hot, winners of five straight entering the Clemson showdown in Week 14.”
The Southeastern Conference has automatic tie-ins with seven bowls this year after picks for the college football playoffs are settled. SEC bowl tie-ins are The Citrus Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, ReliaQuest Bowl, Texas Bowl, Gator Bowl and Music City Bowl.
After the Citrus Bowl makes its pick of the top SEC team available, the rest of the bowls will be assigned by the conference.
The SEC also has affiliations with the Birmingham Bowl and Gasparilla Bowl if needed.
