South Carolina became the SEC’s 12th school on Sept. 25, 1990, accepting commissioner Roy Kramer and the league’s athletic directors’ invitation to join college football’s most competitive league.

The Gamecocks, who were an independent who faced a $300,000 deficit the previous year, received a measure of financial security once the SEC added a championship game and its own television contract with CBS.

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Credit to Charles Bloom, South Carolina’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for today’s photo tweet revealing a photocopy of the original contract from commissioner Kramer to Gamecocks president Arthur Smith: