You can officially start planning your 2023 fall weekends.
The SEC unveiled its 2023 football schedule in a live television show on Tuesday night, finally putting dates to the fixed rotation of conference opponents.
South Carolina already knew the dates of its four non-conference games, starting with a neutral site game against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Charlotte on Sept. 2 and another in-state FCS opponent in the home opener against Furman the following week. It will be an all-Gamecocks matchup against the new FBS program Jacksonville State on Nov. 4, and the non-conference schedule will wrap up at home against Clemson on Nov. 25.
The rotating SEC West crossover will be a home game against Mississippi State, the first trip to Columbia for the Bulldogs in a decade. Next season’s schedule also only features four true road games, the lowest total for the team since 2019. Here is the full 2023 schedule laid out:
Late Homestand
Right off the bat, the four-game homestand to end the season jumps out. South Carolina will not have to leave the confines of Williams-Brice Stadium the entire month of November with a third of its schedule coming in a row at home. Kentucky and Clemson have given South Carolina trouble in recent years, but Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt in back-to-back weeks will provide what should be a softer portion of the schedule in back-to-back weeks.
This is the first time South Carolina has closed the season with four consecutive home games since 2013, a stretch the Gamecocks swept by a combined score of 154-57.
Tough Travel
The flip side of South Carolina's extended stay at home to close out 2023 will be the two longest road trips it has in the conference coming on back-to-back weeks at the end of October. South Carolina will travel to Missouri, a place it has not won since 2017, and Texas A&M, a place it has never won, on consecutive Saturdays.
The Gamecocks will travel 3,804 miles round trip in an eight-day span, but only 1,166 miles the entire rest of the season.
Earlier Bye
South Carolina's bye week falls in week six next season, one week earlier than it is in 2022. The Oct. 7 bye week is also the earliest it has fallen on the schedule for the Gamecocks since 2019 when it fell on the same week. Coming out of that bye week, the Gamecocks upset No. 3 Georgia in Athens.
This time the game coming out of the bye will be against Florida, the same as in 2021 when the Gamecocks dominated the Gators 40-17 in Columbia.
Georgia Week Three...Again
The only game on South Carolina's 2023 schedule that will fall in the same week as it did in 2022 will be the week three match-up with the Georgia Bulldogs, this game coming at Sanford Stadium in Athens.
The Missouri and Texas A&M games will occur on the same two-week window they do this season, but in the reversed order.
Favorable Byes
Only one time all season will South Carolina have to face a team coming off its bye week, the Oct. 28 clash with Texas A&M in College Station. The Aggies will play at Tennessee on Oct. 14 before getting two whole weeks to prepare for South Carolina, but this is the lone instance.
South Carolina will get a maximized rest advantage coming off of its bye with Florida playing against Vanderbilt while South Carolina is idle on Oct. 7.