The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and in football, in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Williams–Brice Stadium is the home football stadium for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the college football team representing the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. It is currently the 16th largest on-campus college football stadium in the NCAA and is located on the corner of George Rogers Boulevard and Bluff Road adjacent to the South Carolina State Fairgrounds. Carolina football teams consistently attract standing-room-only crowds to Williams–Brice Stadium. The atmosphere on game days has been voted "the best" by SECsports.com, and has been noted as being among the loudest environments to play in by opposing players. The stadium has been the site of many concerts, state high school football championships, and various other events. It hosted the annual Palmetto Capital City Classic between Benedict College and South Carolina State University until the last game in 2005.
Louis Leo Holtz is a former American football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or Gridiron Football. The Tar Heels play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and until 2022 the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Clemson–South Carolina rivalry is an American collegiate athletic rivalry between the Clemson University Tigers and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, the two largest universities in the state of South Carolina. Since 2015, the two compete in the Palmetto Series, which is an athletic, head-to-head competition between both schools, not just in football, but also in more than a dozen competitions throughout each school year. The all-sport series has been won by South Carolina each year. Both institutions are public universities supported by the state of South Carolina, and their campuses are separated by only 132 miles. South Carolina and Clemson have been bitter rivals since 1896, and a heated rivalry continues to this day for a variety of reasons, including the historic tensions regarding their respective charters and the passions surrounding their athletic programs. It has often been listed as one of the best rivalries in college sports.
Willie E. Jeffries is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints, five seasons at Wichita State University, and five seasons at Howard University. Jeffries was the first African American head coach of an NCAA Division I-A football program at a predominantly white college when he coached Wichita State. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach is Shane Beamer. They play their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.
The 2000 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gamecocks were led by Lou Holtz in his second season as head coach and played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2011 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by tenth year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 6–2 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for second place.
The 2013 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 12th year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in MEAC play to win a share of the MEAC championship with Bethune-Cookman. Due to their loss to Bethune-Cookman, they did not receive the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. However, they did receive an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the first round to Furman.
The 2014 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 13th-year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in MEAC play to finish in a five-way tie for the MEAC championship. However, they did not earn the conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs and did not receive an at-large bid.
The 2015 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 14th year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 6–2 in MEAC play to finish in fourth place.
The 2016 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 15th-year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 5–6, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a two way tie for third place.
The 1904 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented South Carolina College—now known as the University of South Carolina–as an independent during the 1904 college football season. Led by first-year head coach Christie Benet, South Carolina compiled a record of 4–3–1. Captain Gene Oliver played against Georgia with a broken jaw.
The 2010 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by Oliver Pough in his ninth year as head coach and played its home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. It finished the regular season with a 9–2 record overall and a 7–1 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, making them conference co-champions alongside Bethune–Cookman. The team qualified for the playoffs, in which it was eliminated in the first round by Georgia Southern.
The 2017 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 16th-year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 3–7, 2–6 in MEAC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.
The 2018 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 17th-year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 5–6, 4–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place.
The 2019 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 18th-year head coach Oliver Pough who became the program’s all-time winningest coach during the season, surpassing former Head Coach Willie Jeffries. The Bulldogs played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
The 2021 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs, led by 20th-year head coach Oliver Pough, played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.
The 2022 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs, led by 21st-year head coach Oliver Pough, played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.
