With the bowl season quickly approaching, college football fans are hoping their team will head somewhere warm to play.
For the Gamecocks, it appears this could be the case.
With multiple sources releasing bowl game projections, one thing has remained in common: They have South Carolina heading to play in one of the bowls hosted by the Sunshine State.
After a loss to in-state rival Clemson to end the regular season, head coach Will Muschamp and his team look to rebound and get a bowl game victory before heading into the offseason.
With a final mark of 8-4, the Gamecocks will most likely find themselves in a better bowl game compared to last year's Birmingham Bowl against South Florida.
This year, the Gamecocks are projected to land in more familiar bowls. Among the predictions, David Hale of ESPN has the Gamecocks landing in Tampa, Florida for the Outback Bowl against a mid-tier Big Ten team. Teams that the Gamecocks could face include Michigan State and Northwestern.
The Spartans finished the year with a 9-3 record, and were tied for second in the Big Ten East division. The Spartans showed flashes of being a threat in the Big Ten this year. Wins over Michigan and Penn State displayed these moments. However, a 48-3 loss to Ohio State showed that the Spartans still have work to do to compete for a Big Ten Championship in the future. A matchup in the Outback Bowl would be the first for the two teams and would feature two good defenses with offenses that have struggled at this season.
Northwestern is a team that has surprised a lot of people this year at times, but it has also fallen into old patterns. Northwestern’s strength of schedule was 65th overall compared to the Gamecocks,' which ranked third in that category. Other than the Wildcats' win over Michigan State, they haven’t had to play the top-tier opponents in the Big Ten. They lost to Wisconsin and Penn State, the two best teams on their schedule, along with ACC opponent Duke.
CBS Sports' Jerry Palm also has the Gamecocks facing the Wildcats in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 30, which would be the second matchup all-time between these teams. The first was a Northwestern victory in 1962.
Another destination for the Gamecocks could be Orlando for the Citrus Bowl, facing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, according to Jason Kirk. This would be the first meeting between these teams since 1984 — two years before Lou Holtz became the head coach of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is 9-3 on the year and has some very impressive wins against teams such as NC State, Southern California and Michigan State. In addition to this, Notre Dame's losses have been against very competitive teams. If the Gamecocks were to play Notre Dame, Muschamp and Co. would have to face Brian Kelly's seasoned squad that turned its play around after last year’s debacle of a season.
Andrew Miller of Post and Courier has an interesting and unique prediction for the Gamecocks. He has South Carolina possibly landing in Jacksonville, Florida for the Taxslayer.com Bowl against an ACC opponent or in the Music City Bowl in Nashville against Michigan, both of which would be very competitive matchups for South Carolina. While Nashville would be a cold weather environment, Michigan is not a new opponent for the Gamecocks.
Most South Carolina fans remember what happened in the team's last last matchup in 2013. A rematch would feature two teams coming off a loss to their rivals and looking to rebound. It’s a matchup that would get a lot of buzz due to the recent history between these teams.
Based on these predictions, it seems that a matchup with Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl or the Music City Bowl against Michigan are the two that make the most sense for the Gamecocks. Northwestern is similar in talent level to the Gamecocks and it would be a very competitive game. Meanwhile, Michigan vs. South Carolina is a matchup college football fans will want to see, and would receive a large amount of attention.
All of the bowl games and matchups will be announced at 12 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.