Tucker’s South Carolina Record Prediction

Credit: FBSchedules

RECORD PREDICTION 4-8

Unless LaNorris Sellers is really everything Shane Beamer is hyping him up to be, it’s hard to imagine a world in which South Carolina finishes the year with a winning record.

The first third of the Gamecocks’ slate is bookended by probable blowout wins against Old Dominion and Akron.

I have the trip to Kentucky and home game against LSU as close losses. If Kentucky was coming to Williams-Brice, I’d probably lean in the other direction, but I couldn’t with it being at Kroger Field and knowing Mark Stoops’ September success.

All three games in October are losses. The Ole Miss game may be competitive since it’s in Columbia, but Jaxson Dart should have enough experience to log a tight road victory for the Rebels.

The trips to Alabama and Oklahoma will be losses, and not close ones.

On paper, Texas A&M is probably a tight contest. However, the Gamecocks have just one win to show for in a decade of playing the Aggies annually.

The road game at Vanderbilt will be the Gamecocks’ lone SEC win. 2008 was the last year the Commodores defeated South Carolina, and this shouldn’t be a year where that changes.

The Gamecocks have been rough against Missouri of late, losing five straight. With what they have on offense, the Tigers should be able to outrun South Carolina at the very least.

Wofford is the free space before the Palmetto Bowl. Similar to Texas A&M, the Gamecocks only have one win over Clemson in a decade. The Tigers have taken steps back as a program, but it still doesn’t feel like the Gamecocks are in a position to pass them by.

If South Carolina indeed finishes 4-8, this has to be one of if not Shane Beamer’s final season. The honeymoon ended with last year’s 5-7 output, and this would only frustrate Gamecock fans more.