Where South Carolina is picked in On3's way-too-early bowl projections

On3’s Brett McMurphy has the Gamecocks making a bowl game in 2026, playing in the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl against the Houston Cougars.

Since 2014, the bowl game has been meant to feature a bowl-eligible SEC team against the fourth-ranked team in the Big12. The game is annually held at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, home of the Memphis Tigers.

This past year, the Cincinnati Bearcats faced off against the No. 22 Navy Midshipmen. The game doesn’t feature an SEC team in specific years when there aren’t enough eligible SEC teams. With four teams making the 2025 College Football Playoff, other bowl sites took priority. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Texas Bowl, the ReliaQuest Bowl, the Citrus Bowl, and the Music City Bowl are also postseason games that routinely represent the SEC.

The Gamecocks being projected for the Liberty Bowl suggests a more modest prediction compared to the 2025 preseason. South Carolina began the preseason as the No. 13 ranked team in the country, and several outlets considered them a team with real College Football Playoff potential.

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After going 4-8 and missing a bowl appearance altogether, the Gamecocks are projected to at least improve from last year, but not a complete turnaround. The last SEC team to appear in the Liberty Bowl with a better regular season record than 6-6 was the No. 24 Missouri Tigers in 2018.

Houston finished 2025 ranked No. 21 in the country after going 10-3 and 6-3 in the Big 12. All three of their losses came at home against No. 11 Texas Tech, West Virginia, and TCU. The Cougars defeated LSU 38-35 in this past year’s Kinder’s Texas Bowl.

For 2026, Houston plans to bring back former Texas A&M starting quarterback Connor Weigman under center for his senior season. Weigman threw for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns last season for the Cougars.

With a long way to go before the start of the 2026 season, including the start of spring practices, there is a lot that can change with these predictions between now and August.

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