University of South Carolina Gamecocks Football at Williams-Brice Stadium
There's nothing quite like the energy of SEC Football, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks are playing the best conference opponents in the nation, year in and year out. National powerhouses like Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn make their way to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC, every Saturday during college football season, and a Gamecocks game starts well before kickoff. While the 52-acre tailgate area is a proper SEC football pre-game experience, there are also three nearby breweries and a more ready-made fan zone in the Lexington Medical Center Gamecock Village, which opens 4.5 hours before kickoff. Once inside of "The Cock Pit," you're among 80,000+ people in the stadium as the team enters to the strains of "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" made famous in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a game-day tradition for nearly 40 years. If the Gamecocks score a touchdown, the music becomes even more a part of the experience, with Darude's "Sandstorm" blasting after every touchdown. Plain and simple, Gamecock football games are a big deal. The team has ended the year in the Top 25 six times since 2000, and even the mascot, Cocky, is — no joke — a four-time national champion mascot. Every home game sells out, because who wouldn't want to watch SEC Players of the Year like defensive end Jadeveon Clowney or running back Marcus Lattimore? The sun shines strong on Saturday in Columbia, so don't forget to put on sunscreen, and as long as you're wearing garnet and black, you'll fit right in.
University of South Carolina Gamecocks Football History
College Football's South Carolina Gamecocks play their games at the 80,250-capacity Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. Since 2010, the stadium has undergone $30 million in renovations, including the installation of a giant 36-foot-high by 124-foot-wide HD video board and the lush Springs Brooks Plaza promenade entrance. A decorated college football program to say the least, the team has been coached in the past by Hall of Famers Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier, while current head coach Will Muschamp has taken the Gamecocks to a bowl game every year of his tenure. The program has churned out quality NFL talent in players like the great Sterling Sharpe, former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney and Super Bowl winners Stephon Gilmore and Alshon Jeffery.
