What happens if South Carolina football is no longer an underdog?
——This is part of a summer series. Leading up to the start of South Carolina’s 2025 season, The State is answering 25 of the most interesting questions surrounding the Gamecocks football team. This is No. 4 ——
Let’s first set the foundation.
Do you think South Carolina football is viewed as an underdog in the SEC?
“Sure I do,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said at SEC Media Days in mid July. “We have to earn our respect and we have to do it consistently.
Added quarterback LaNorris Sellers: “I just think some people might not think that we can do it again — what we did last year.”
Coming into a season with expectations is a historically foreign spot South Carolina. Following a 9-4 season, the Gamecocks were picked to finish fifth in the SEC.
It was the highest preseason polling for Carolina since Beamer took over in 2021 and perhaps the most-optimistic the regional media has been on the Gamecocks in over a decade.
Yes, the Gamecocks were picked to finish first in the SEC East twice during Steve Spurrier’s heyday — 2011 and 2012 — but South Carolina was also projected to win the division in 2014. That, of course, did not come to fruition. USC lost to Texas A&M by 24 in the season opener, and Spurrier stepped down a year later.
Save for those few seasons in the early 2010s, South Carolina has been the sometimes-plucky underdog. A program so often defined by misfortune, whose fan base begins to clench their muscles when things are going good because, well, something bad is coming. The Chicken Curse will strike again ... or something like that.
Sometimes being the underdog is fun. Heck, in just the past three seasons, fans have twice stormed the field after improbable wins over No. 5 Tennessee (2022) and No. 10 Texas A&M (2024). There can be euphoria in winning games you’re counted out of.
But what would happen if South Carolina shed that underdog status and became an SEC alpha — a program forced to navigate each and every season with a target on its back?
“I haven’t even made it that far. I can’t imagine,” SEC Network host Alyssa Lang, a 2015 graduate of Carolina, told The State. “We’ve seen that a lot with women’s basketball. and I’ve experienced the fan base go, ‘What do you mean we’re not beating opponents by 30?’”
“Be able to experience that non-underdog mentality for more than a couple of games, couple of weeks, couple of seasons,” Lang continued, starting to grin. “I don’t know — the rest of the country might not want to see the (USC) fan base coming.”
Perhaps all it will take is a year. One year where everything goes right, where botched calls or injuries or even the Chicken Curse detour the Gamecocks. Imagine if USC makes the College Football Playoff and then starts to make noise in December? That would start the process of exiling the word “underdog” from Columbia.
25 QUESTIONS FOR THE 2025 SEASON:
No. 25 — What South Carolina positions have the most question marks heading into season?
No. 24 — A Gamecocks victory over Va. Tech would be biggest season-opening win since when?
No. 23 — How will South Carolina’s QB room shake out in 2025 and beyond?
No. 22 — If USC beat Bama or LSU in ’24, would national conversation be different right now?
No. 21 — Can the Gamecocks’ offensive line take a step forward in 2025?
No. 20 — What former South Carolina football player will get his jersey retired next?
No. 19 — Can South Carolina get to the LSU game undefeated?
No. 18 — Will Fred Johnson be South Carolina’s next great LB?
No. 17 — What’s the most important stretch in USC’s 2025 schedule?
No. 16 — Can South Carolina’s defense stay elite despite all its roster turnover?
No. 15 — What South Carolina school records could be broken in 2025?
No. 14 — What’s the ceiling for USC’s running backs, with or without Rahsul Faison?
No. 13 — Can South Carolina’s special teams get back to Beamer Ball standard?
No. 12 — Have Gamecocks found right balance of high school football talent, transfers?
No. 11 — How will Shane Beamer go viral this year with South Carolina?
No. 10 — Is South Carolina too young at wide receiver?
No. 9 — Is this South Carolina’s easiest schedule in the Shane Beamer era?
No. 8 — Will there be noticeable changes in Mike Shula’s offense at South Carolina?
No. 7 — Can South Carolina football stay relatively healthy again in 2025?
No. 6 — Is this the last year for Williams-Brice Stadium as we know it?
No. 5 — What does a path to the playoff look like for South Carolina?
No. 4 — What happens if South Carolina football is no longer an underdog?
No. 3 — How would a 10-win season in 2025 shape Shane Beamer’s legacy in Columbia?
No. 2 — Can Dylan Stewart have a better season than Jadeveon Clowney did in 2012?
No. 1 — Can LaNorris Sellers become the best QB in South Carolina history?
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
