South Carolina announced on Wednesday the football team’s schedule for the 2020 football season.
The 2020 football season will begin on Sept. 5 against Coastal Carolina in a rematch of the 2018 season opener. South Carolina has beaten Coastal Carolina in both of their only matchups, which came in 2013 and 2018.
The Gamecocks will then take on the East Carolina Pirates in Columbia on Sept. 12, which will be the first matchup between the two schools since 2016, when the Gamecocks beat the Pirates 20-15 for Will Muschamp’s first win at Williams-Brice as the Gamecocks' coach.
2020 will be the first time the Gamecocks will be opening the season with back-to-back non-conference games since 2003, when they opened the season against Louisiana-Lafayette and Virginia.
The SEC portion of the schedule will begin on Sept. 19 when SEC East rival Missouri comes to Williams-Brice. The Gamecocks own a 5-4 all-time record against the Tigers, including a 37-35 win in 2018. The two SEC schools are also set to meet this football season.
The Gamecocks will then go the Kentucky and Florida in back-to-back weeks on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, before returning to Columbia for an earlier than usual matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers on Oct. 10.
Following a bye week on Oct. 17, on Oct. 24 the Gamecocks will play Texas A&M, a team that they have yet to beat, in Columbia. The Aggies hold a 5-0 all-time edge over the Gamecocks, with their first meeting being in 2014.
South Carolina will finish the SEC slate with games at Vanderbilt on Oct. 31, against Georgia at home on Nov. 7 and at LSU on Nov. 14. LSU is the rotating SEC West opponent for 2020. The Gamecocks last played LSU in 2015 when the game was moved from Columbia to Baton Rogue due to flooding in South Carolina. The Tigers won that matchup 45-24.
The Gamecocks will host Wofford from the FCS in the final home game of the year on Nov. 21, and then end the season on the road against the Clemson Tigers in the Palmetto Bowl on Nov. 28.
Kickoff times and television networks will be announced in 2020.