South Carolina Annual SEC Opponents Revealed - What it Means for Gamecocks

South Carolina has discovered its annual SEC opponents so what does it mean for the Gamecocks?

The SEC will be moving to a nine-game conference schedule starting next season. A part of that schedule shift is that every team in the conference will have three teams they play every single season. Those opponents have been revealed and for the Gamecocks, they will play Georgia, Florida and Kentucky. So what does this mean for the Gamecocks?

For starters, it means that South Carolina will say goodbye to playing some of their rivals on an annual basis. Most notably Missouri which has become a bit of a battle between the two programs since both teams play in a city named Columbia. The nine game conference schedule could put the Clemson vs South Carolina rivalry in jeopardy, but nothing has been announced yet.

The Gamecocks have not played the Georgia Bulldogs since the 2023 season. The two teams used to play every single season when divisions existed in the conference, and now the two will be on each other's schedule moving forward. The annual opponents were decided by a multitude of factors, one of which was protecting rivalries in the conference.

The Gamecocks have also not played the Florida Gators over the last two seasons due to Texas and Oklahoma being added into the conference and shaking up the schedules. So two of South Carolina's annual opponents are teams they have not played within the last two seasons. Kentucky on the other hand has remained on South Carolina's schedule.

It is worth noting that the conference will reevaluate the annual opponents every four years which means the opponents could change in the future. However, with how much college football has changed in the last four years, who knows if the conference will even get to that point.

The remainder of the conference schedule for the 2026 season will be released on Tuesday. Every SEC team will play every conference opponent every two years, which is a positive that the nine game conference schedule provides.