How ESPN predicts South Carolina’s season to go following impressive win over Florida

South Carolina won on Saturday with a 38-19 thrashing of the Florida Gators. The victory moved the Gamecocks to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in SEC play. Though two blown leads against Mississippi State and Kentucky and a blowout at the hands of Alabama left the fanbase with a bitter taste in their mouths, the ranked win over Florida has given the Gamecock Faithful hope that their favorite team can manage to get things turned around in 2026. At the time of this writing, ESPN’s latest Football Power Index lists the Gamecocks with a 5.8-6.2 projected record. If that prediction proves correct, South Carolina will be right on the line of bowl eligibility at the end of the regular season. Below is how ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor projects each game left on the schedule. Questions about this story? Kevin Miller is discussing it with subscribers on The Insiders Forum. As things stand today, ESPN lists the Gamecocks as favorites in three of their remaining six games. Those contests are at home against Texas A&M and on the road against Arkansas and Clemson. With a near-pick ’em on the docket in two weeks against Tennessee, another loss for the Vols against Alabama this weekend could push that one in USC’s favor, too. Conversely, the current predicted win over A&M is a near-pick ’em that could shift by the time the two teams play in November. Each of the current ESPN FPI Matchup Predictor victory percentages is listed below. Tennessee: 43.6%@ Oklahoma: 32.7%Texas A&M: 50.3%@ Arkansas: 73.4%Georgia: 14.1%@ Clemson: 60.5% The second half of South Carolina’s season will not continue this weekend. The Gamecocks are on their open date this Saturday. From that point on, though, the schedule will include six games against power conference opponents.