South Carolina’s 2012 SEC Football Schedule Not Favorable for Gamecocks

According to 107.5 The Game in Columbia, which quotes a website called mrsec.com, the SEC Conference officials have done the University of South Carolina zero scheduling favors with 2012’s football schedule. This report is unsubstantiated by SEC officials, but according to the radio report, South Carolina will play an eight-game league schedule except with a different format. Since the league expanded back in 1992, each team played five divisional opponents, two rotating SEC West Division teams and one permanent SEC West opponent (Arkansas, in USC’s case).

Next season, the SEC Conference will expand to 14 teams with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri, so league officials have been scrambling to accommodate the new league members while balancing traditional SEC rivalries.

Bottom line, this is what South Carolina’s SEC Conference schedule will look like when the SEC officially announces its members’ 2012 schedules.

South Carolina 2012 schedule (H) = Home, (A) = Away:

SEC East Opponents: Georgia (H), Tennessee (H), Kentucky (A), Vanderbilt (A), Missouri (H) & Florida (A)
*Note* - Missouri will replace Mississippi State on USC’s home schedule. This means, since Missouri will be visiting USC in 2012 that in 2013, Carolina fans will trek to Arkansas (permanent foe) & Missouri (divisional foe) in the same calendar year (2013).

Rotating SEC West Opponent: LSU (A)
*Note* - LSU replaces Mississippi State on USC’s schedule; MSU was supposed to visit Columbia this upcoming year, as USC played at MSU this past season.

Permanent SEC West Opponent: Arkansas (H)
*Note* - USC fans were hoping to get Arkansas off the schedule as a permanent opponent after the SEC invited Texas A&M and Missouri into the conference, but no such luck. Texas A&M and Missouri will be each other’s permanent opponent.

Blogger’s Note: This information is all circumstantial based off a radio report from second hand information, but it goes along with some other unconfirmed outlets, as well. So it appears South Carolina will be playing two of the top three teams from the SEC West next year in LSU and Arkansas. IMHO, the SEC Conference will transition to a nine-win league schedule possibly in 2013, which gives SEC officials more time to tinker with future schedules.

Go Gamecocks!