South Carolina season-opener vs. Kent State declared the hottest game in Williams-Brice Stadium history
By Jacob Moss
Published:
Week 1 of the 2026 college football season has finally arrived, and every team from around the Southeastern Conference will be in action as the race to Atlanta begins.
Football may be back, but football weather hasn’t returned with it, with much of the country in the midst of a massive heat wave that has set record temperatures in many spots for early September.
South Carolina in particular is enduring some blistering heat, so much so that Saturday’s 1 p.m. kickoff between the South Carolina and Kent State was officially declared the hottest game in Williams-Brice Stadium.
Per Gamecocks insider Jordan Kaye, the official temperature at kickoff was 95 degrees, beating the previous record high of 94, which was met on 3 separate occasions. According to the broadcast pregame, the heat index in Columbia was as high as 113 degrees.
This mirrors what many programs across the country are dealing with in their first game of the year, and many schools have taken to social media to advise fans to stay hydrated if they plan to attend their respective team’s home opener.
Folks in the south may be used to the heat, but these kinds of temperatures may be a bit much for many to endure when it comes to watching a football game.
