South Carolina hosts Kent State. The market has South Carolina favored by 35.5.
What’s at stake
South Carolina
- South Carolina sits at 15% to make the CFP field — 16% with a win here, 8% with a loss.
- South Carolina hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2024.
Kent State
- A win would be one of Kent State’s biggest of the season — a 148-spot gap in the power ratings.
The series
South Carolina leads the series 1-0
1 meeting since 1995 · South Carolina won the last meeting
- 1995South Carolina 77–14
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
Kent State
The chip · vs the national mediaKent State fans have watched the program get written off as a MAC afterthought during the 1-23 stretch -- and answered with a coach promoted from the same staff that presided over it, turning the roster around fast enough to reclaim the Wagon Wheel in overtime.
What this game touches
The 1-23 stretch under Kenni Burns. Kent State won a single game combined across the 2023 and 2024 seasons before Burns was fired in April 2025 -- one of the worst two-year stretches in modern MAC history, and the standard every Mark Carney win is measured against.
South Carolina
The chip · vs the blue bloodsGamecock fans have spent generations as the SEC's welcome mat for Georgia, Clemson, and the rest — and they wear the grievance like a badge. They'll tell you nobody fights harder for less, and that the program that should never be respected keeps refusing to go quietly.
What this game touches
The 2025 collapse. South Carolina opened 2025 ranked No. 13 with quarterback LaNorris Sellers a Heisman contender and finished 4-8 (1-7 SEC). Sellers regressed and was sacked a career-high 43 times; Shane Beamer fired his offensive coordinator mid-season and enters 2026 squarely on the hot seat. The fanbase's oldest fear — that the ceiling is real — got loud again.
Best players
South Carolina
- Justin Okoronkwo (LB) · 2025: 63 tackles
- Fred Johnson (LB) · 2025: 62 tackles
- Lanorris Sellers (QB) · 2025: 2,437 passing yards
Kent State
- Mason Woods (LB) · 2025: 94 tackles
- Joel Cordoba (DB) · 2025: 66 tackles
- Dru Deshields (QB) · 2025: 2,030 passing yards
What to watch
The spread has moved 2.0 points toward South Carolina since opening (−33.5 → −35.5).
The line, and the room
The model and the market don’t fully agree on South Carolina’s chances here.
Home −35.5 · O/U 53.5
Conditions
98°F · 4 mph wind · Clear
South Carolina is 59% at home, 32% on the road since 2018 (32-22 home, 12-25 away).