South Carolina adds Charlotte to 2022 football schedule

South Carolina announced today that it will host the Charlotte 49ers on Sept. 24, 2022, which is the first non-conference matchup that has been scheduled for that season. The SEC home slate will include Texas A&M, Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee, while South Carolina travels to Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Clemson.

Charlotte, a member of Conference USA, is a football program still in its infancy. The 49ers began play in 2013 and competed at the FCS level for a couple years before moving up to the FBS ranks. Charlotte is 17-39 all time, and predictably, has taken some huge losses to Power 5 programs like Kansas State and Louisville in that span. (As a bonus piece of trivia, do not ever refer to them as UNC Charlotte — they’re sensitive about that.)

I must admit this isn’t a very exciting or interesting choice of opponent for the Gamecocks. Perhaps five years from now, the 49ers will be on more solid footing in the FBS, but as of now, there’s nothing to sink your teeth into about this matchup. There are still two more out-of-conference games yet to scheduled, so hopefully 2022 has some surprises in store.