I hope you folks are enjoying the offseason as much as I am. While I certainly can't wait for football season, and we are just 102 days away from the Gamecocks' first kick against Georgia State, the offseason is where we explore hobbies, spend time in the sun, earn brownie points with our significant other that we can cash in on fall Saturdays, and of course, get really obscure with football content so that we can continue to scratch that itch that never truly goes away, no matter what time of year it is. This week's edition of where my mind wanders while trying to think about football during May takes us to a thought experiment with a simple question: Who are the Gamecocks' closest mirrors in other conferences? Which teams seem to have some of the same flavors as South Carolina's football program when it comes to history, fanbases, and recent successes (or failures)?

Michigan State has always stood out to me as a team I pay attention to in the Big Ten ever since I learned that former coach Mark Dantonio played DB for South Carolina in the 70s (which is before I was born, let alone watching football). The comparisons aren't perfect, Michigan State has certainly had more success, both with National championships in the 50s and 60s, and since the late 90s when Nick Saban led them to their first winning season since 1990, and then Dantonio led them to a few Big Ten championships and a few more championship game appearances, as well as a CFP playoff berth. For a few years there during the Spurrier era, it felt like South Carolina was on a similar track to consistently compete for championships, but the decade since has been a little more unkind to the Gamecocks before the last two years began to show a little momentum again. Even so, Michigan State and South Carolina share a lot of similarities. Both share a state with a program that has had more consistent success than theirs. Both have mostly been dominated by that in-state rival in head-to-head matchups. Both have had times of success within their conference, but aren't usually considered in that "blue-blood" category. Both consistently rank top-25 in the country in fan attendance, regardless of the product on the field. Lastly, both currently have coaches that seem to utilize the Transfer Portal to great effect, with MSU coach Mel Tucker leading the Spartans to an 11-2 record in his 2nd season on the backs of an important transfer class after his first season. The Gamecocks hope that Shane Beamer can have the same sort of turnaround this coming season after bringing in a very impressive transfer class this offseason.

Some of the points I'll make for each of these teams are the same, but NC State might be the most eerily similar comparison on this whole list. NC State isn't the top historical program in its state, but it's also had some periods of relative success. Both schools' all-time record hovers around .500 despite sharing the same debut season over a century ago in 1892. Both schools even share a common coach here: Lou Holtz coached the Wolfpack for 3 solid seasons from 1972-75. Lou Holtz also won conference coach of the year for both NC State (1972) and South Carolina (2000). Funnily enough, Lou Holtz's first game as coach of South Carolina was at NC State, where they got beaten 10-0 during Hurricane Dennis on their way to an 0-11 season.

NC State has never won a national championship and hasn't won the ACC since 1979. South Carolina's last conference championship was also in the ACC, in 1969. Current NC State head coach Dave Doeren has led his team to 2 top 25 finishes in the final AP poll, but they've always been a win or two away from truly taking that next step. The Wolfpack does have a bit of an inter-conference rivalry with Clemson and were able to knock off the Tigers in 2021, something the Gamecocks hope they can replicate very soon.

This one might have been the toughest to nail down. None of the California schools had the right fit. Oregon State would've had plenty of fun mascot puns, but I think their history is actually a little worse than South Carolina's. I ultimately decided to go with the Colorado Buffaloes, even though Colorado does have a national championship, and the Gamecocks obviously do not. That said, they only have one, in 1990, and while they had a big 3-year run from 89-91, they mostly have not had sustained success, at least in the modern era. They do have lots of wins, 27th all-time, but I chose to focus on their time in the Pac-12 when making this equivalency. Like the Gamecocks, they joined a better conference and struggled initially. After joining the Pac-12 in 2011, they did not have a winning record for 6 years, and they haven't had a winning record outside of a 4-2 Covid shortened 2020 since then. That said, like South Carolina, Colorado could be considered a "sleeping giant" by some. They have a lot to offer in Boulder and nearby Denver as far as city life goes, and they have a central location to many of the surrounding state's talent pools, without a ton of competition once you get west of Texas and before you get to California. I think it's only a matter of time before they find their footing, and they might have if they could've held on to previously mentioned Mel Tucker who left for Michigan State after some moderate success with the Buffs. I would say both programs are middling in their conference with room to grow and a story to sell potential recruits. Interestingly enough, these programs have never played each other, despite both being around since the 1890s. Let's make this one happen. I think it would be fun.

This one might raise some eyebrows. Oklahoma State has certainly seen higher highs than South Carolina since Mike Gundy took over the program in 2005. Despite that, they've only won 1 conference championship, in 2011. This is mostly due to consistently finishing behind their in-state rival, Oklahoma, who overshadows OSU's success throughout its history. Oklahoma State has a slightly better win percentage than South Carolina, at .525, but much of that success has come in the last 15 years. Before that, they do have a national championship, but all the way back in 1945. Another similarity is that their best player in history and only Heisman winner in school history was a breakout running back in the 80s, granted Barry Sanders outshines George Rogers, but Sanders outshines arguably every RB in history. If Steve Spurrier arrive in South Carolina fifteen years younger, I think that South Carolina and Oklahoma State would have nearly identical trajectories since 2005, but OSU has kept their elite media darling coach, while South Carolina's aged out in 2015.