The Georgia–South Carolina football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks. The rivalry started in 1894, and has been played annually since the Gamecocks joined the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1992, although as a result of SEC expansion, it will cease to be an annual matchup in 2024. Georgia leads the series 55–19–2 through the 2023 season.
Both of these SEC members coincidentally are flagship universities of their respective state systems, and are classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a Research I university, the same designation as their sibling science, technology, engineering, and mathematics schools from the ACC — with which they also have intense rivalries: Georgia's Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate rivalry with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and South Carolina's Palmetto Bowl game against the Clemson Tigers.
Emergence of the rivalry
Traditionally, Georgia has had three main rivals: Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Florida. The two schools played periodically until South Carolina's entrance into the SEC in 1992. Recruiting battles have always existed between the two, but intensified due to South Carolina's success under head coach Steve Spurrier. Georgia's fan base has disliked former South Carolina football coach, Steve Spurrier, since his days as head coach at the University of Florida. The series between the two schools became especially competitive during the Steve Spurrier years, with Spurrier's Gamecocks holding an almost perfectly even 5–6 record against Georgia. The game has traditionally been nationally televised to a large audience (Dating back to 1996, either on CBS, ESPN or ESPN2 except in 2016 and 2020).