South Carolina’s 2026 schedule caught Greg McElroy’s attention for a simple reason: it gives the Gamecocks a real shot to turn the page.
On Wednesday’s Always College Football with Greg McElroy, the ESPN analyst pointed to South Carolina as one of the SEC teams with a more manageable path ahead, and he tied that directly to what he sees as the biggest reasons for optimism in Columbia.
McElroy started with the 2025 season, when South Carolina finished 4-8 and won just one SEC game. He called the offensive line “very disappointing” and described it as “Kind of a full collapse from a team that was on the playoff cusp the year before with nine wins.”
What changed, in his view, was the return of LaNorris Sellers and the addition of Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator.
“The most important thing that happened this offseason was that LaNorris Sellers stayed. That was big because many thought that with his talent level at 6'3", 245, scouts had been comparing him to Cam Newton.
I think there was a moment maybe where he thought about the NFL Draft. No thanks.
I am going to run it back. I am going to go back to Columbia.
This was the SEC Freshman of the Year just a couple of years ago.
“So, the talent has not been a question with the quarterback spot. The question was everything around him.
This offseason, they really answered it. They brought it in a new play caller in Kendal Briles to kind of build around.”
From there, McElroy turned to the schedule itself, and he liked what he saw. South Carolina opens Sept. 5 against Kent State at Williams-Brice Stadium, and McElroy said the Gamecocks avoid two of the SEC’s toughest names.
“South Carolina does not play Texas and LSU. That's two of the three scarier teams in the league,” McElroy said.
“They host Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky. Their road games are at Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida and Arkansas, plus a rivalry trip to Clemson.
They get Kent State and an FCS team in Towson to kind of catch their breath.
“To put it together, you have a guy with big-time talent at quarterback who bet on himself. A new offensive coordinator that has excelled at calling plays in the SEC for a very long time and a schedule that erased two of the harder teams in the SEC off the card.
It's not a 4-8 setup. This is a bounce back waiting to happen.”
McElroy also used South Carolina as part of his broader look at trap games around the country, and he singled out the Nov. 7 matchup with Texas A&M. He said the Aggies could be tempted to overlook that trip to Columbia because of what comes immediately after it.
“The Aggies host Tennessee the following week. Close out the year at Texas.
So, a November road trip to Columbia is probably a little bit easy to overlook. That's a terrible idea,” he said.
“I think Aggie fans know this giving how things went a couple of years ago.
“South Carolina has LaNorris Sellers who has all the talent in the world. You know Williams-Brice will be absolutely as hostile as it gets.
A house of horrors for so many people. This is a textbook definition of a very dangerous, potentially overlookable Saturday.
Be careful if you're the Aggies when you travel to Columbia.”
In Other News...
South Carolina's 2026 Trip To Arkansas Comes With New Uncertainty
South Carolinas 2026 trip to Arkansas is already looking a lot different than the one Gamecocks fans might have circled when the schedule first came out. The Razorbacks are moving into a new era under Ryan Silverfield, who takes over for Sam Pittman, and the roster around him is being rebuilt almost from the ground up. Arkansas is replacing key pieces at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and across the defense, while also leaning heavily on transfer portal additions to fill out the depth chart.
For South Carolina, that means a road game that once seemed straightforward now comes with a fresh layer of uncertainty. Arkansas has brought in a massive wave of transfers, including several from Silverfields previous stop at Memphis, and the turnover touches every phase of the team. Even familiar names around the SEC landscape are gone, including former Gamecock receiver OMega Blake, who led the Razorbacks in receiving last season. By the time the Gamecocks arrive in Fayetteville, the bigger question may not be who Arkansas was, but how quickly this new version comes together. [Read more 🡒]
Gamecocks Fans Will Want To Watch Hayden Johnson Closely This Fall
Hayden Johnsons move to South Carolina comes with a familiar kind of offseason storyline for the Gamecocks, one that blends roster-building with a little patience. The left-hander is transferring from Coastal to follow head coach Kevin Schnall and pitching coach Matt Williams, and he arrives with the kind of background that makes him worth tracking once the season gets going.
For now, Johnson is working his way back from an arm injury at South Carolina, where he has already started with the training staff and is progressing on schedule. Once he is healthy, he is expected to push for a weekend starting spot, which gives the Gamecocks another arm with real upside to watch closely as fall ball unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Lamont Paris Faces His Biggest South Carolina Backcourt Test Yet
South Carolinas backcourt has been a lingering issue for two seasons, and it has shown up in the kind of uneven play that can make a team harder to trust over the course of a game. Lamont Paris is trying to steady that spot this fall with a mix of experience and upside, leaning on Kory Mincy and freshman Marcus Johnson as the latest answers in a rotation that has needed one.
Mincy arrives with the most college mileage in the group after stops at Presbyterian and George Mason, while Johnson brings the kind of decorated prep rsum that usually comes with real expectations attached. Paris has liked what he has seen from both in workouts, but the real question for South Carolina is whether this pairing can finally give the offense a more reliable handle when the season starts to ask harder questions. [Read more 🡒]