Afternoon kickoff time, TV details set for South Carolina’s game against Ole Miss

Get the tailgate preparations going. One of the most-anticipated South Carolina games of the season finally has a time.

The Gamecocks will kick off against Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. inside Williams-Brice on Saturday, Oct. 5, the SEC announced Tuesday. The game will air on ESPN.

The game time was unknown for so long as the SEC initially categorized it as a “flex” game, meaning it could have been slotted between 3:30 and 8 p.m. It was the only “flex” game designated for South Carolina.

The news means USC will only have one night SEC game all season: Nov. 2 vs. Texas A&M, which doesn’t have a time yet but was designated by the SEC as a “night” game.

South Carolina, on its bye this week, we’ll head into the game with a 3-1 record and a 1-1 mark in SEC play. Ole Miss (4-0, is currently ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and hosts Kentucky this week before making the trip to Columbia.

Even without the Rebels’ ranking, South Carolina fans have been circling this game for months — ever since wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells decided to transfer from South Carolina to Ole Miss in December.

Months later, the animosity still hasn’t left. Just before the season, South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori posted a picture of Wells with the words “Judas Wells.” In four games for the Rebels this season, Wells is Ole Miss’ second-leading receiver with 14 catches for 274 yards and four touchdowns.

South Carolina hasn’t welcomed Ole Miss to Williams-Brice Stadium since 2009, when the Steve-Spurrier-led Gamecocks got a 16-10 victory that year.

SEC game times for Oct. 5

• Missouri at Texas A&M, noon (ABC)

• Auburn at Georgia, 3:30 pm (ABC)

• Ole Miss at South Carolina, 3:30 pm (ESPN)

• Alabama at Vanderbilt 4:15 pm (SEC Network)

• Tennessee at Arkansas 7 or 7:30 pm (ABC or ESPN)

• UCF at Florida 7:45 pm (SEC Network)

2024 Gamecocks schedule

• Aug. 31 – South Carolina 23, Old Dominion 19 // 4:15 pm

• Sept. 7 – South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6 // 3:30 pm
  
  

• Sept. 14 – LSU 36, South Carolina 33 // noon
  
  

• Sept. 21 – South Carolina 50, Akron 7 // 7:30 pm
  
  

• Oct. 5 – vs. Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

• Oct. 12 – at Alabama – Noon, ABC —OR— ESPN

• Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma – TBA (early)

• Nov. 2 – vs. Texas A&M – TBA (night)

• Nov. 9 – at Vanderbilt – TBA (afternoon)

• Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri – TBA (afternoon)

• Nov. 23 – vs. Wofford – 4 p.m., SEC Network Plus/ESPN+

• Nov. 30 – at Clemson – TBA