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Shane Beamer favors 9-game SEC schedule; what it means for South Carolina vs Clemson
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- Shane Beamer favors 9-game SEC schedule; what it means for South Carolina vs Clemson
COLUMBIA — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer does not mind the SEC moving from eight to nine conference games in 2026.
The conference announced Aug. 21 that it will go to nine games beginning the 2026 season. Just two hours later on Carolina Calls, a weekly radio show Beamer does each year, he was asked about the changes.
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"As a competitor I love it," Beamer said. "Think it's great for the fans because they want to see quality opponents and I'll say what I've said all along which is I'm great with it as long as every other school in the SEC is playing a schedule that we're playing."
Every SEC team will be required to schedule at least one additional high quality non-conference from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season, the conference announced.
Explaining his point further, Beamer said how Kentucky plays Louisville , South Carolina plays Clemson , Florida plays Florida State and Georgia plays Georgia Tech in annual SEC-ACC rivalry games.
"The other 12 teams in our league don't play an out of conference regular rival so that's awesome that every school will be required to play one out of conference Power 4 team," Beamer said. "Great, well we already do that ... I'm not shying away from competition, that's awesome I am all for it as long as the other teams we are competing against for playoff spots are playing the same 11 Power 4 games a year which is the direction we're going."
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Beamer is in his fifth season with the Gamecocks , which begins with a game against the ACC's Virginia Tech in Atlanta on Aug. 31 (3 p.m., ESPN).
With the new format, the SEC will still have single-standings and a non-divisional structure and each school will play three SEC rivalry opponents. The other six games will rotate among the remaining schools. Each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four years.
"This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional Power opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in the release.
Since 1992, the SEC has played eight conference games a season, which is when the conference went from 10 to 12 teams, adding South Carolina and Arkansas .
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The requirement to play a high-level non-conference opponent is no issue for the Gamecocks as long as the Palmetto Bowl remains and neither coach has expressed any interest in giving up the annual in-state rivalry game.
South Carolina's 2026 schedule is also not impacted considering it only has three non-conference games scheduled in Miami (Florida), Towson and Clemson.
In 2027, there are four non-conference games. A home game with the Tigers, plus Furman, Appalachian State and Miami again. One of those games will have to be cut. App State is coached by Dowell Loggains, who was the Gamecocks' offensive coordinator from 2023-24.
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com . Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Shane Beamer addresses 9-game SEC schedule, South Carolina vs. Clemson
