The Gamecocks were led by eighth-year head coach Steve Spurrier and played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.

[1] By this point, the Gamecocks were on a school-record ten-game winning streak dating back to last season and were subsequently ranked No.

[1][2] This was the program's highest ranking since 1984,[3] and the 2012 Gamecocks began receiving comparisons to that 1984 team, which started 9–0 and came close to winning a national championship.

[1] The Gamecocks rebounded, winning the rest of their games in the regular season, including against archrival No.

[4] South Carolina finished the season with eleven wins and ranked in the top ten for only the second time in school history.

[18] [19] ‡ As part of their penalty for NCAA violations, LSU has retroactively vacated its 2012 victory over South Carolina.