No. 24 Kentucky at South Carolina: SEC Network Coverage, 4:15 p.m. Kickoff
The short version
- Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC) plays at South Carolina (2-2, 0-2 SEC) on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 4:15 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
- The game airs nationally on SEC Network; streaming is available on Fubo (free trial) and ESPN+ (subscription).
- Taylor Zarzour and Matt Stinchcomb call the game with Michella Chester on the sideline.
- South Carolina leads the series 22-13-1, or 22-14-1 counting Kentucky's vacated 2021 win, and has won 11 of 17 meetings in Columbia.
- BetMGM odds as of Oct. 2: South Carolina -2.5, over/under 54.5, moneyline Kentucky +115, South Carolina -140.
No. 24 Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC) visits South Carolina (2-2, 0-2) in a Week 5 SEC game at Williams-Brice Stadium, airing nationally on SEC Network.
Kentucky football continues its 2026 schedule with a Southeastern Conference road game against South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 3. The contest falls in Week 5 of the college football season and is scheduled to kick off at 4:15 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. A ranked visitor meets a home team still chasing its first conference win of the year.
The game will be televised nationally on SEC Network, with Taylor Zarzour and Matt Stinchcomb in the booth and Michella Chester covering the sideline. Fans who prefer streaming can watch on Fubo, which gives new subscribers a free trial, or on ESPN+, ESPN's subscription streaming service.
Kentucky enters the weekend ranked No. 24 in the AP poll at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play, the first season under head coach Will Stein. The Wildcats' most recent road trip ended with a Sept. 19 victory over a top-10 Texas A&M team in Texas. Kentucky will try to repeat that road success in Columbia, where its record in the series has been poor.
South Carolina occupies the other end of the standings at 2-2 overall and 0-2 in conference games. The Gamecocks have dropped seven straight SEC matchups, a skid that stretches back to last season. The slump has placed head coach Shane Beamer's job under scrutiny heading into Saturday.
The head-to-head history offers Kentucky little encouragement. The program has not beaten South Carolina since 2021, and even that result no longer counts: the NCAA vacated the Wildcats' 16-10 victory because of violations.
South Carolina leads the all-time series no matter how the math is handled. Counting Kentucky's vacated win, the Gamecocks are ahead 22-14-1; leaving it out, they lead 22-13-1. Kentucky has not managed a victory in the rivalry in any meeting since that voided 2021 game.
The venue adds another obstacle for the visiting team. South Carolina has won 11 of the 17 games the schools have contested in Columbia. The 1978 meeting there finished level and remains the only tie in the series.
Oddsmakers still expect a competitive game between programs with sharply different records. As of Friday, Oct. 2, BetMGM listed South Carolina as a 2.5-point favorite, with an over/under of 54.5 points and a moneyline of Kentucky +115 and South Carolina -140.
The original report from the Louisville Courier Journal predicts a 38-30 Kentucky win. The forecast calls for a determined South Carolina performance with the head coach's future at stake, but it expects the Wildcats, a program it describes as trending upward, to add another road victory.
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