Shane Beamer comments on SEC’s decision to move to 9-game conference schedule
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Shane Beamer responded to the SEC’s move to a 9-game conference schedule beginning in 2026 during his “Carolina Calls” radio show on Thursday night.
“As a competitor, I love it,” the South Carolina head coach said, according to the Greenville News. “(I) 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.”
Beamer was referring in part to comments he made during SEC Media Days in July, when he said that Clemson was essentially a ninth conference game because the Gamecocks play them every year. South Carolina is one of 4 SEC programs that face a nonconference opponent annually.
The SEC will continue to require each team to play a “high-quality” Power 4 opponent every year starting in 2026, with Beamer noting that the Gamecocks already check that box.
“That’s awesome that every school will be required to play one out-of-conference Power 4 team,” Shane Beamer said on Thursday. “Great. Well, we already do that. …
“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.”
That annual matchup with Clemson also doesn’t appear to be in any danger in light of the SEC’s schedule change. Reports on Thursday stated that both schools still intend to continue the annual meeting.
South Carolina is looking to make the College Football Playoff for the first time this season. At 9-3 a year ago, the Gamecocks reached the doorstep but were one of the final teams on the outside looking in on the selection committee’s final ranking.
The CFP announced this week it would be updating how it evaluates schedule strength, a move that seems to have factored heavily into the SEC’s announcement.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
