South Carolina football cancels future home-and-home series with ACC opponent
South Carolina and Virginia Tech have mutually agreed to cancel home-and-home football series that was scheduled for the 2034 and 2035 seasons, a university source confirmed to The State on Friday.
The cancellation, which was first reported by Doug Bowman of VTScoop, comes just a few months after the SEC and ACC announced they’d shift to nine-game conference schedules moving forward.
In response to that, South Carolina and Miami cancelled a home-and-home series that would have seen the Hurricanes play in Williams-Brice Stadium in 2026 and travel to Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami in 2027.
“It kind of is what it is,” USC coach Shane Beamer said of that cancellation. “With the SEC going to nine conference games ... not all nine conference games are built the same way. Nine conference games in other leagues aren’t nine conference games in this league — and when we also play Clemson at the end of every season.”
The South Carolina-Virginia Tech series has obvious ties because of Beamer. His father, Frank Beamer, is the winningest coach in Hokies history, guiding them to 238 wins from 1987-2015. Beamer played for his father from 1995-99 and was a part of the ’99 team, led by QB Michael Vick, that made the national championship game.
The Gamecocks and Hokies opened the 2025 season against each other, playing a neutral-site game in Atlanta. South Carolina won 24-11.
Incredibly, the 2034-35 South Carolina and Virginia Tech series was agreed to nearly 15 years before the games were set to take place.
The State obtained the original contract for the 2034 and 2035 games, which was signed by then-Gamecocks athletic Director Ray Tanner and Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock in December 2019.
The contract, which said USC would host a game in 2034 and Virginia Tech would host in 2035, stated that it would cost $500,000 for one school to cancel on the other.
Since Babcock and South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati mutually agreed to cancel the series, though, neither school will have to pay a fee.
SOUTH CAROLINA FUTURE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
2026
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. Kent State (Sept. 5), vs. Towson (Sept. 12), at Clemson (Nov. 28)
SEC: vs. Georgia, vs. Kentucky, vs. Mississippi State, vs. Texas A&M, vs. Tennessee // at Florida, at Alabama, at Arkansas, at Oklahoma
2027
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. Furman, vs. App State, vs. Clemson
SEC: vs. Florida, vs. LSU, vs. Missouri, vs. Texas // at Georgia, at Kentucky, at Ole Miss, at Auburn, at Vanderbilt
2028
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. North Carolina, vs. Wofford, at Clemson
SEC: vs. Georgia, vs. Kentucky, vs. Alabama, vs. Arkansas, vs. Oklahoma // at Florida, at Texas A&M, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee
2029
NON-CONFERENCE: at North Carolina, vs. App State, vs. Clemson
SEC: vs. Florida, vs. Ole Miss, vs. Auburn, vs. Vanderbilt // at Georgia, at Kentucky, at LSU, at Missouri, at Texas/
2030
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. East Carolina, vs. NC State, at Clemson
2031
NON-CONFERENCE: at NC State, vs. Clemson
2032
NON-CONFERENCE: at Clemson
2033
NON-CONFERENCE: at App State, vs. Clemson
2034
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. App State, at Clemson
2035
NON-CONFERENCE: vs. Clemson
