2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks were led by Steve Spurrier in his second season as USC head coach and played their home games in Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 44–36 vs. Houston
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Record	8–5 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Tyrone Nix (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Williams-Brice Stadium
Seasons ← 2005 2007 →

2006 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$#		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 25 Tennessee		5	–	3					9	–	4
Kentucky		4	–	4					8	–	5
No. 23 Georgia		4	–	4					9	–	4
South Carolina		3	–	5					8	–	5
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					4	–	8
Western Division
No. 15 Arkansas x		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 9 Auburn		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 3 LSU  %		6	–	2					11	–	2
Alabama		2	–	6					6	–	7
Ole Miss		2	–	6					4	–	8
Mississippi State		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Florida 38, Arkansas 28
# – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Alabama had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–7 (0–6). Rankings from AP Poll

The Gamecocks finished the season 8–5, ending with wins in the Palmetto Bowl and Liberty Bowl.^[1] Their eight-win campaign, victory over Clemson, and bowl victory were each the first since 2001.^[2][3] All of the team's losses were against top-12 opponents, and four of those losses were within seven points.^[1]

Schedule

The October 28 game against Tennessee played host to ESPN's College Gameday, the third year in a row that South Carolina had hosted the program.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	8:00 pm	at Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	W 15–0	50,277
September 9	7:45 pm	No. 12 Georgia	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	ESPN	L 0–18	82,513
September 16	7:00 pm	Wofford*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	PPV	W 27–20	74,286	[4]
September 23	7:00 pm	Florida Atlantic*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	PPV	W 45–6	70,860
September 28	7:30 pm	No. 2 Auburn	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN	L 17–24	74,374
October 7	7:00 pm	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	ESPN2	W 24–17	61,449
October 21	3:00 pm	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	PPV	W 31–13	37,280
October 28	7:45 pm	No. 8 Tennessee	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry, College GameDay)	ESPN	L 24–31	82,011
November 4	7:45 pm	No. 12 Arkansas	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN	L 20–26	74,926
November 11	3:30 pm	at No. 6 Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	CBS	L 16–17	90,703
November 18	12:30 pm	Middle Tennessee*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	PPV	W 52–7	70,442
November 25	12:00 pm	at No. 24 Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–28	83,428
December 29	4:30 pm	vs. Houston*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ESPN	W 44–36	56,103
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]