Muschamp on schedule hype: 'It's tough every year'

ESPN's FPI may predict South Carolina's 2019 schedule as the most difficult slate in college football, but head coach Will Muschamp doesn't want to hear it.

"It's tough every year," Muschamp said Tuesday in Augusta at the first stop of this offseason's Spurs Up Tour. "Success to us is winning our state and winning the East. That gives you the opportunity to play in the College Football Playoff and that's what our expectation is in our program. Our schedule is difficult every year. I don't understand why everybody is making a big deal about it; it's hard every year."

South Carolina's 2019 schedule has been a common topic of discussion this offseason both locally and nationally as the Gamecocks draw usual rivals Clemson and Georgia and rotate Alabama onto their slate. That means the Gamecocks could arguably play the top three teams in the country.

The FPI, or Football Power Index, is a predictive rating system developed by ESPN to assign team strength and forecast results. The system currently has South Carolina ranked as the No. 18 team in the country for 2019, but has them projected to win just 6.1 games.

Muschamp, who will likely have his best team since arriving in Columbia, would rather focus on that, than a schedule that is certainly more difficult but is tough every season.

"The competitive depth that we have on our team, we have a deeper roster than we've had before, especially on both lines of scrimmage, which excites you, because I know this league very well and you've got to be strong there," Muschamp said. "I think we have good leadership. We've got three players on our team that previously in their careers have been voted team captain: Jake Bentley, Dennis Wonnum and T.J. Brunson. You couple that with Donell Stanley, Sadarius Hutcherson and Bryan Edwards. We've got some good leadership within our program."

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