Media predictions are in: Where South Carolina will finish in SEC East for 2023
South Carolina is poised to go out near the top in the SEC’s last college football season with divisions.
The Gamecocks were picked to finish third in the East — behind Georgia and Tennessee — in the annual preseason poll by league reporters who were at SEC Media Days this week in Nashville. The media’s vote was released Friday.
“Really like this 2023 team that we have returning,” Shane Beamer said at the main podium Thursday. “It’s a hungry group. They have shown they are not satisfied with just eight wins. They know that we have a higher ceiling here at Carolina and everything they have done since January embodies that.”
South Carolina was voted to finish fifth in the SEC East last season. But the Gamecocks performed better than expected, posting a .500 conference record en route to finishing third behind eventual national champion Georgia and Tennessee.
USC has improved over each of Beamer’s years at the helm. He took the team from a two-win season to seven victories in 2021 and eight in 2022, including a thrashing of No. 5 Tennessee and a rivalry win at No. 7 Clemson.
“It’s a big thing with us and a big message is no complacency,” Beamer said. “We can’t assume that because things went well for us last season, because we won eight games and accomplished a lot of firsts, that it’s just automatically going to go that way again because we have got returning players.”
Key dates
July 26: Shane Beamer’s media golf outing
Aug. 3: Gamecocks report for fall camp
Aug. 4: First practice
Aug. 10: First practice with full pads
Aug. 12 and 19: Scrimmages
Aug. 24: First day of class
Sept. 2: Season opening game vs. UNC
South Carolina football schedule
Sept. 2 – North Carolina (at Charlotte) – 7:30 pm, ABC
Sept. 9 – vs Furman – 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Sept. 16 – at Georgia – 3:30 pm, CBS
Sept. 23 – vs Mississippi State – TBA
Sept. 30 – at Tennessee – TBA
Oct. 14 – vs Florida – TBA
Oct. 21 – at Missouri – TBA
Oct. 28 – at Texas A&M – TBA
Nov. 4 – Jacksonville State – TBA
Nov. 11 – vs Vanderbilt – TBA
Nov. 18 – vs Kentucky – TBA
Nov. 25 – vs Clemson – TBA