The Gamecocks' 1979 season was the program's second ever, and is noted for the new program reaching the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time.
The Gamecocks finished with their second consecutive winning record, at 14-5.
They faced the Clemson Tigers in their first match of the 1979 tournament, losing 1–0 to the more established (eighth tournament) Clemson squad.
This season was also the last at Carolina for senior Brian Winstead, who would leave the school as the leading goal-scorer in school history (a title he would hold for seven years); and Paul Turin, a star goalkeeper who would go on to play for the Tulsa Roughnecks in the NASL.
# Wheat Classic