Predicting best- and worst-case scenarios for USC Gamecocks wins, losses in 2024

Like most football teams in the SEC, South Carolina has a brutal schedule.

Home against LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. On the road at Oklahoma, Clemson and Alabama.

We asked national writers, TV personalities and pundits at SEC Media Days for their predictions of the best- and worst-case scenarios for how the Gamecocks’ 2024 season will go under head coach Shane Beamer.

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum predicts a seven-win season for South Carolina. Here’s what the others said.

▪ Josh Pate, 247Sports: I’d go (on the) high, high end: 8-4 or 9-3. High, high end. That’s LaNorris Sellers being an all-SEC-caliber guy. That’s the offensive line being totally turned around. Low end: 4-8 or 5-7. So, luckily, they don’t make me vote on this for a couple more weeks.

▪ Alyssa Lang, ESPN/SEC Network: Honestly, I think that South Carolina needs to make the postseason. That is the bare minimum, right? It needs to be at least a six-, seven-win season. And they were so close to that last year. There were moments — I think back to that Florida game. I was on the sidelines for that and they lose that in final two minutes of the game. And that’s the difference between making a bowl game. That’s the difference between playing in the postseason or not.

So that’s why I go back to saying they’re so close. I think the postseason at a program like South Carolina is the absolute floor. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they get six, seven, eight wins because that’s how insane it is with life in the SEC. You just never know what could happen.

▪ Andy Staples, On3 Sports: It’s funny because we talk about the different draws everybody got. So South Carolina lands in the bucket with Florida and Georgia and Oklahoma where it ain’t a pretty draw. And then, like Florida and Georgia, there’s at least one non-conference game where you’re like, “Whoa.” That’s the question: Can they be a bowl team? I think you can be a bowl team against this schedule. That’s improvement. And if you’re better than that, if you’re 7-5, then you’re talking about a chance to really grow, and people being excited going into next season.

Now the question is — and I ask this a lot with Florida, too — if Florida goes 7-5 against the schedule, (head coach) Billy Napier is probably fine and people start to get excited about the following season. But it’s a tough place to be where you’re praying for 7-5. And that’s sort of the new reality of how deep this league is. And people are gonna have to get used to (the fact) there’s gonna be years like that and kind of adjust their expectations.

▪ Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports: As I was (looking) at the schedule, I was totaling it up and I got to 6-6. … Obviously we don’t know how good Clemson is gonna be. Last couple years, they’ve been so up and down. You don’t know if they’re gonna be back to the dominant power. That game is interesting and you would think could flip the 6-6 to 7-5 maybe if they could pull that out. And then Missouri, you would think, is possibly a winnable game. … I’m guessing between five and eight (wins) is what I’d project.

▪ Greg McElroy , ESPN/SEC Network : You’ve gotta make the postseason (if you’re South Carolina). … But teams are gonna lose more games and we have to start getting comfortable with the fact that ... the NFL is an 8-8 league. Everyone is trying to get to .500. You win some, you lose some. College football is going to get more like that and people need to get real comfortable with the idea that the national champion might have three losses.

South Carolina Gamecocks 2024 schedule

Bolded games indicate those with start times that are set. Kickoff times for games with early, noon, night or flex designations will be determined during the season

• Aug. 31 – vs. Old Dominion – 4:15 pm, SEC Network
• Sept. 7 – at Kentucky – 3:30 p.m., ABC
• Sept. 14 – vs. LSU – Noon, ABC
• Sept. 21 – vs. Akron – Night (6 to 8 p.m., TBD)
• Oct. 5 – vs. Ole Miss – Flex (afternoon or night kick, TBD)
• Oct. 12 – at Alabama – Noon, ABC or ESPN
• Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma – Early (noon to 1 p.m., TBD)
  
  
• Nov. 2 – vs. Texas A&M – Night (6 to 8 p.m., TBD)
• Nov. 9 – at Vanderbilt – Afternoon (3:30 to 4:30 p.m., TBD)
• Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri – Afternoon (3:30 to 4:30 p.m., TBD)
  
  
• Nov. 23 – vs. Wofford – 4 p.m., SEC Network Plus
• Nov. 30 – at Clemson – TBD