‘ESPN College GameDay’ is coming to South Carolina. Shane Beamer is pumped about it

For the first time since 2017, South Carolina won its SEC opener, with a dominant defensive performance. After the game, Beamer was on the team plane back to Columbia when his wife, Emily, brought it up. She had heard through the grapevine that the Gamecocks’ big victory was catching national attention, so much so that “ESPN College GameDay” was coming to Columbia.

“Huh,” Beamer responded. “You think that or you know that?” She explained where she was hearing it. Sure enough, a few hours later as the plane was getting ready to land, Beamer pulled his phone out to check some college football scores.



And there it was — the They were headed to Columbia ahead of the game between No. 16 LSU and undefeated South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium. “I was excited,” Beamer said Sunday.

“They wouldn’t be coming if they didn’t know what our fan base is about and how excited our fan base will be to have them here.” It will be the first time Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and the crew have set The show will be live from Gamecock Park starting at 9 a.m.

, going right up to the noon kickoff between the Tigers and Gamecocks. A few years before that, in 2010, Beamer was an assistant at South Carolina — and again it was Emily who called him and told him that “College GameDay” was headed to Columbia. That was and, well, we all know how that turned out.

Beamer admitted that the extra spotlight could be a great benefit for South Carolina’s recruiting efforts, too. A number of prospects were already scheduled to be in attendance for the LSU game, but there’s been added interest since the Gamecocks’ win in Lexington and the subsequent ESPN announcement. “It’ll be a great showcase for our program,” Beamer said.

“It’ll be great from a recruiting standpoint, but we need to play well.” The rapid change of temperature around South Carolina football is striking. Even Beamer alluded to it, noting that much can change in a week, and the Gamecocks are great proof.

After beating Old Dominion by just four in the season-opener, many had a bleak outlook for this South Carolina team. The offense was lethargic, and if it weren’t for a few turnovers, the Gamecocks might have been on the wrong side of an excruciating upset. And now — after holding Kentucky — nothing seems impossible.

South Carolina will have national eyeballs on its campus and its team this weekend. It is a massive moment, yet Beamer hopes it soon becomes commonplace. “This will hopefully,” Beamer said, “be the first of many, many times that ‘GameDay’ is here as long as I’m the head coach here at South Carolina.

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