Paul Finebaum details what a Week 1 win over UNC would mean for South Carolina

Week 1 of college football presents a slew of exciting non-conference games for the SEC, but which team would gain the most from a win to start the season?

An LSU win over Florida State obviously comes with potential College Football Playoff implications early in the season, but outside of that game, Greg McElroy asked Paul Finebaum which SEC team would be the biggest winner following a Week 1 win on ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’

“I think it’s South Carolina because they have so many intriguing games,” Finebaum said. “I mean they play Georgia in a couple weeks, they have Clemson at the end of the season, and an impressive performance all of a sudden you have to reboot and you have to start thinking what does this mean? Could they be a player? Could they wreak havoc?”

The Gamecocks are coming off of an 8-5 season as head coach Shane Beamer enters his third year with the program. South Carolina impressed last season particularly late, knocking off Tennessee and Clemson in back-to-back weeks with both ranked within the top 10 in the polls.

They start off this season facing another ranked opponent, as they’ll take on No. 21 North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium in a matchup being featured on ESPN’s College GameDay. And taking down legendary head coach Mack Brown and star quarterback Drake Maye in Week 1 would definitely allow Beamer and the Gamecocks to make an early statement that not many other teams in SEC can make this weekend.

“There’s Tennessee to consider, there’s so many others. Florida I’m afraid, even if Florida wins with Cam Rising out, maybe they’ll be impressive, but I feel like we’re just right back to where we were last year. Their schedule is so overwhelming that I can’t see them making enough of a difference,” Finebaum explained.

“But I think an impressive win by South Carolina would have to start making people take a long look, are they now in the upper echelon? And really what I’m talking about is competing for that second spot in the SEC East.”

There’s no doubt that South Carolina has a rare and golden opportunity to put the rest of the SEC on notice to start the season, creating momentum as they head into a tough SEC schedule filled with plenty of ranked opponents.

But will they capitalize? We’ll find out this Saturday as North and South Carolina square off at 7:30 p.m. ET in a marquee matchup airing on ABC.