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Report: Kentucky Expected To Be Gamecocks' Permanent Opponent in 8-Game Model

Per Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, South Carolina's Football program would face a current SEC East foe annually if the SEC went with a 1-7-7 model.
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As the week has progressed, SEC head coaches, athletic directors, and presidents alike have all made their way down to Destin, FL, for the conference's annual Spring meetings to discuss any prevalent issues. For the football programs, a stalemate has reportedly taken place in the most central question over the past year; will the conference go with a 1-7-7 or 8-game scheduling model or a 3-6-6 or 9-game scheduling model?

Arguments have been made for both, but the overall premise is to have at least one consistent annual opponent for each SEC team and have all the member institutions play one another in each of their home venues throughout a four-year cycle. Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks are in a bit of a quandary when discussing permanent opponents because very few natural or organically-created rivalries exist for the program in the SEC.

Earlier this week, SI's Ross Dellenger, a college football insider who covers the logistical side of the sport, caught wind of what the permanent matchups could be in an 8-game scheduling model, and supposedly, South Carolina would play the Kentucky Wildcats annually in that format. While the Wildcats have been the more dominant team in this series over the past nine years or so, the Gamecocks own a 19-14-1 record all-time over Kentucky, and won last year's matchup in Lexington, KY by a score of 24-10. 

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