National predictions ahead of South Carolina-Kent State

This Saturday, South Carolina will begin the 2026 season on Saturday. The Gamecocks will host the Kent State Golden Flashes in what will be both teams’ season opener. The two teams have only met one other time, a 1995 beatdown at Williams-Brice Stadium in which USC won by a score of 77-14. Shane Beamer’s team enters the 2026 season in hopes of rebounding from a disappointing 2025. Mark Carney, heading into his second full season leading the Kent State program, is looking to continue an upward trajectory that saw the Golden Flashes move from 0-12 to 5-7 last year. South Carolina has been a fringe top-25 team this preseason, while Kent State is far from the rankings and considered a mid-to-low-end team in the MAC. Because of those factors, no one is reasonably predicting that the Gamecocks could lose on Saturday. Even so, it’s worth taking a look at the national narrative heading into Week 1. The GamecockCentral staff and subscribers are discussing this now on The Insiders Forum. Naturally, all predictions heading into this game are favoring the Gamecocks. South Carolina is a 35.5-point favorite, according to Polymarket, but that number has fluctuated between that and 36.5. The over/under is 53.5 points, implying a final score of 44.5-9 in favor of the home Gamecocks. Based on ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor, South Carolina has a 98.1% chance to win on Saturday. The ESPN SP+ model from Bill Connelly is a little higher on the Gamecocks’ odds, pushing them up to 99%. The analytics projection lists a rounded score of 44-6 as the most likely final outcome, meaning it projects South Carolina to win and to cover the spread. SP+ also predicts an “under” hit on the over/under. College Football News’ Pete Fiutak picked South Carolina to win 51-10, representing a covered spread and an “over” hit. Chris Lee and Jay Greeson of Southeastern 16 both picked the Gamecocks. However, both Lee and Greeson believe that Shane Beamer’s team will not cover the spread. The Greenville News’ Lulu Kesin picked a Kent State cover in a 31-14 win for South Carolina. You can also read the GamecockCentral staff picks for the week here. Visit our exclusive Gamecocks-only, no-trolls message board! If national predictions for South Carolina-Kent State hold, the Gamecocks will win big on Saturday. However, whether or not the team will also cover the spread has been largely debated. A comfortable win in Week 1 could provide some confidence for the Gamecocks, plus another week of getting healthier before the schedule really picks up later this month. Kickoff on Saturday is slated for 12:45 p.m. SEC Network will handle the television broadcast, while the ESPN app streams the on-field action.