The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers have one of the longest-running rivalries in college football. But as time has gone on, that rivalry has been extended to other sports.
This rivalry has been taken to new heights in recent years through the Palmetto Series, which is presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery. Over the course of the 2024-2025 academic year, both South Carolina and Clemson will compete against each other across various sports, with each victory giving the winning school a "point" in the series.
The Tigers claimed a win in the most recent edition of the series, its first in the six-year history of the competition. But as the fall draws to a close, the Gamecocks hold a 2-0 lead over the Tigers in the Palmetto Series' seventh edition.
Men's and women's soccer
The 2024-2025 Palmetto Series began on Aug. 30, when South Carolina and Clemson competed in a men's soccer match at Stone Stadium. The Tigers, which were the No. 1 team in the country at the time, took an early lead in the 25th minute.
The Gamecocks responded with an equalizer from senior forward Harrison Myring less than a minute later and took the lead shortly after halftime, when freshman forward Gabe Nickerson scored to take the lead with a score of 2-1. Clemson would eventually respond with a goal in the 66th minute, though, which caused the game to end in a 2-2 draw.
The contest marked the first time since 2014 that a meeting between the two teams in Columbia did not result in a loss for the Gamecocks. In 2014, South Carolina came back down 2 goals to ultimately win in overtime 2-1 over the Tigers at Stone Stadium.
"I thought the team put in a game shift," Myring said. "(We're) frustrated about 2-2, but they're the No. 1 team in the country, so I thought we really brought the game to them."
South Carolina's and Clemson's women's soccer teams met on the same field just six days later on Sept. 5, and their contest resulted in a similar outcome, albeit by a different score. In the 31 games played in the all-times series, this was the third-straight year that the rivalry between the two teams ended in a tie.
Neither team would find the back of the goal during the first half, but the Gamecocks found a breakthrough in the 47th minute via a goal from fifth-year forward Catherine Barry. South Carolina’s defense held strong for most of the second half until the Tigers drove down the field in the final minute of the match, when Clemson sophomore midfielder Christian Brathwaite scored to make the score 1-1.
Despite the draw, head coach Shelley Smith said she was pleased with the team's defense effort that night, describing it as “great.”
“They held them to very few opportunities. That’s a great team. They can be very dangerous.” Smith said. “Overall, (I’m) very happy with the effort.”
Cross country
Both school's efforts in cross country also resulted in a point not being awarded to either side. To earn a point for the Palmetto Series in cross country, the Gamecocks would have to finish over the Tigers or vice versa in both events that the rivals compete in. Neither team was able to accomplish this feat this season in cross country.
Clemson's cross country runners finished in second, three places ahead of South Carolina, in the Live in Lou Classic on Oct. 5 , but the Gamecocks returned the favor with a third-place finish at the Crimson Classic on Oct. 18.
Volleyball
After three straight missed opportunities for points, the Gamecocks claimed the first one awarded to either team when the South Carolina volleyball team defeated Clemson on Sept. 20 at Jervey Gym. The Gamecocks swept the Tigers in three straight sets on the road for the first time since 2017.
The first set was the longest of the three and ended in a score of 34-32 in favor of South Carolina. The score remained close even after the set reached the standard 25 points, as there were nine ties and six lead changes until the Gamecocks won two consecutive points to move on to the next period points.
The Gamecocks used its momentum from the first set to gain an early 15-10 lead, which helped it claim the second set by a score of 25-16. The final set came down to the wire, but the Gamecocks won its last set against the Tigers 25-23.
Graduate student outside hitter Riley Whitesides led the team with 18 kills, which helped her pass former middle blocker Mikayla Robinson into 9th on the program's all-time leaderboard in career kills.
Women's basketball
The No. 1 Gamecocks earned another point after defeating Clemson's women's basketball team 77-45 on Nov. 20 at Littlejohn Coliseum. South Carolina was down early 11-10 at the end of the first but turned things around as they outscored Clemson 19-6 in the second quarter.
Coming out of halftime, South Carolina continued to dominate the Tigers and ended the game with a 32-point victory over the Tigers. The win also marked a historic milestone of 43 consecutive wins for the No.1 Gamecocks.
Remaining sports
South Carolina and Clemson will play against each other in two more sports before the end of the calendar year.
The two teams' next matchup will take place on the gridiron, where the No. 16 Gamecocks (8-3, 5-3 SEC) will take on the No. 12 Tigers (9-2, 7-1 ACC) on Nov. 30 at Memorial Stadium. The Gamecocks are looking to for a different result compared to last year, when it suffered 16-7 loss in its regular season finale in Williams-Brice Stadium that kept them from bowl eligibility.
The two schools' men's basketball teams are set to renew their rivalry at Colonial Life Arena on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. South Carolina will looking to avenge a loss in this game as well, as it fell 72-67 to Clemson on the road during the 2023-2024 season.
Palmetto Series action will then continue into the spring, where the Gamecocks will take on the Tigers in additional sports. The two teams' baseball series will take place from Feb. 28 to March 1, while their softball teams will face off on March 25 and April 15. A date and time for their women's tennis match is yet to be determined, but their men's tennis teams are set to play on Feb. 7.
Both schools' women's golf teams will participate in four similar tournaments over the course of the school year — two in the fall and two in the spring. The Gamecocks have finished higher in two tournaments already and should the team finish higher in a third, South Carolina will claim another point.
An additional three points will be allocated to the schools from several South Carolina Education Lottery promotions.