South Carolina is paying how much to put down Wofford? Cost of Week 13 buy game

The No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3) completed their SEC schedule in Week 12 and sit seventh in the conference. But believe it or not, they're still alive in the hunt to get to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

A lot of things (emphasis on a lot) have to break their way over the next two weekends but this is college football and anything can happen. South Carolina's Week 13 buy game against in-state neighbor Wofford could be just what it needs to stay alive.

The Terriers will receive $600,000 for making the 94 mile trip South and more than likely getting their paws stomped on. It's a makeup game for what was supposed to be played in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two will play again in 2026 as part of the original scheduling agreement.

South Carolina's buy game comes at the best time for its SEC hopes

The SEC only plays eight conference games compared to other Power Conferences playing nine So, teams like South Carolina have the opportunity to not only play early-season marquee matchups at the start of the year but also schedule easy buy games towards the end.

In this case, the Gamecocks got their conference schedule started in Week 2 and now have two non-conference games in Week 13 and 14. Wofford and then Palmetto Bowl rivals Clemson are on deck in all-important final games of the year for South Carolina.

A win against both would leave the team at 9-3 and all it would need is a couple teams ahead of it in the SEC to falter in order to sneak into Atlanta for the conference title game.

That would throw the the entire College Football Playoff race into a tizzy and maybe, just maybe, there's a small opening for the Gamecocks to clinch an incredibly unlikely auto-bid in the 12-team bracket.