South Carolina beat Virginia Tech on Sunday to earn a tally in the “W” column to start the 2025 season. The Gamecocks didn’t play their best game but still managed a 24-11 victory against another power conference program in a neutral-site venue.
With the 1-0 start to the year, the Gamecocks are well on their way to bowl eligibility, and their hopes for making the College Football Playoff are very much alive.
For bowl season, there is no one more plugged into the world of bowl invitations than On3’s Brett McMurphy. While that doesn’t normally come into play until later in the season, it’s still worth checking out McMurphy’s bowl projections.
On Monday, the national reporter revealed his picks for the College Football Playoff and his expected bowl invitations.
As should be no surprise (he left the Gamecocks unranked on his preseason AP ballot), McMurphy does not have South Carolina listed as one of his 12 favorites to make the College Football Playoff.
However, he does believe USC will go bowling this winter.
Just as he predicted this preseason, McMurphy projects the Gamecocks to go to the Liberty Bowl. Instead of facing off with Baylor as he opined this summer, he now lists the TCU Horned Frogs as South Carolina’s possible bowl opponent.
If McMurphy is correct, the 2025-2026 Liberty Bowl would mark the first-ever meeting between South Carolina and TCU. The Gamecocks have traveled to Memphis to play in the Liberty Bowl on two previous occasions. Back in 1988, Joe Morrison’s Gamecock team lost to the Indiana Hoosiers. Then, in 2006, Steve Spurrier’s Carolina squad knocked off the Houston Cougars.
The Liberty Bowl is not one of the first bowls past the College Football Playoff, either. In fact, the last three SEC teams invited to the Liberty Bowl finished the regular season at 6-6 or 7-5. The Gamecocks’ expectations are higher. Shane Beamer’s team would like to challenge for the 12-team playoff field, not barely reach a bowl game.
Instead, McMurphy projects a top 12 (in descending order) of Tulane, Clemson, Utah, Notre Dame, Florida State, Oregon, Texas, Miami, Penn State, Georgia, LSU, and Ohio State.