:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/4844919/134140868.jpg)
This is an overview. Predictinos com later. Home games in CAPS.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
8/30: at Vanderbilt
9/8: EAST CAROLINA
9/15: UAB
9/22: MISSOURI
9/29: at Kentucky
South Carolina's opening month is not as bad as it could be, all things considered. The opening night game at Vanderbilt will be a fascinating one, as it will set the tone for both teams' seasons. ECU and UAB should be good tune up games before the toughest game of the month, a home match against newcomer Missouri. With the top teams of the East so close to each other, that one will be a crucial game as far as tiebreakers go at the end of the season. The month closes out with a road game at Kentucky that isn't so bad.
OCTOBER
10/6: GEORGIA
10/13: at LSU
10/20: at Florida
10/27: TENNESSEE
This might be the worst October slate for any team in the conference. It starts hard, remains hard throughout, and the team doesn't have the benefit of a bye week before or during the stretch. The first game against Georgia is probably the team's most important tiebreaker, and it will be tough to earn the edge there. The next game shows where the unfairness of the season's schedules ended up, as the Gamecocks are the only East team that must travel to Tiger Stadium. A whopper of a turnaround comes next with a trip down to the Swamp the very next week. The month closes out with Tennessee, which could be a very dangerous team at this point. No one is envying this set of games.
NOVEMBER
11/3: BYE
11/10: ARKANSAS
11/17: WOFFORD
11/24: at Clemson
This month begins with a well-earned bye week at last. The rest is necessary with Arkansas waiting on the other side. South Carolina hasn't yet defeated an Arkansas team that finished the year above .500, and this year's Razorback team almost certainly will do that. The final cupcake comes with familiar in-state punching bag Wofford, and the season closes as always against Clemson. Those Tigers figure to be ACC contenders again, but a win by the Gamecocks would tie the school's longest winning streak in the rivalry at four games.
This schedule starts somewhat slowly with a couple of non-conference snacks and two of the bottom three teams in the East, but the difficulty ramps up as soon as the calendar flips over to October.