The No. 15 South Carolina football team will travel to Orlando, Florida, to face No. 20 Illinois in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
The New Year's Eve matchup will be the first ever between the Gamecocks and the Fighting Illini. Illinois, who finished the season 9-3 overall and 6-3 in Big Ten play, is entering the postseason on a three-game win streak and with the team's first nine-win season since 2007.
Though the matchup of teams is new, Illinois head coach Brett Bielema has a history of playing against South Carolina, going back to his time at Arkansas from 2013 to 2017. Bielema is 0-2 all-time against the Gamecocks as a head coach.
It is also a reunion between South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and former wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, who left the Gamecocks for the same role at Illinois after last season.
This season will mark the Gamecocks' third appearance in the Citrus Bowl, with both of the team's previous trips coming in 2012 and 2014 when the game was named the Capital One Bowl. South Carolina won both of these contests against Nebraska and Wisconsin, respectively, by double-digit points.
The Gamecocks hold a 10-15 all-time record in bowl games across program history and is 1-1 under head coach Shane Beamer.
South Carolina’s 2024 football season saw the Gamecocks win nine regular season games for the first time since 2017. After starting the season 3-3 with losses to LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama, the Gamecocks went on its first six-game win streak since 2013 to close the season 9-3. During that stretch, the team earned wins over AP-ranked opponents three weeks in a row for the first time in program history.
South Carolina’s six game win streak saw the Gamecocks defeat ACC champion and rival Clemson 17-14, marking the Gamecocks' first time winning back-to-back games in Clemson Memorial Stadium since 2012. It also made Beamer the first coach in Gamecock history to win 29 games across their first four seasons at South Carolina.
The Gamecocks entered the conversation to make the College Football Playoffs with its late-season surge but was left out after being ranked No. 15 in the CFP Selection Committee's final rankings of the season. The Gamecocks also finished No. 14 in the final Coaches and AP polls ahead of bowl season.
South Carolina and Illinois' bowl game will kick off from Camping World Stadium at 3 p.m. on Dec. 31. The matchup will be aired on ABC.