What To Watch In College Football: Week 11

We are in the final weeks of the 2023 regular season, meaning that the games become more magnified for those fighting for a spot in the college football playoff, their conference's respective championship game, or bowl eligibility. South Carolina'll have to take care of business on Saturday against Vanderbilt to keep their postseason hopes alive, but are their final two regular-season opponents in the same kind of situation?

Here's what Gamecock fans should be paying attention to around the college football world in week eleven:

No. 8 Alabama at Kentucky

Kentucky is South Carolina's opponent in week twelve, which should make Gamecock fans happy in a sense because the Wildcats are about to face their stiffest challenge of the season, outside of Georgia, in the Alabama Crimson Tide. Before there was ever such thing as the 'Georgia effect,' it was the 'Alabama effect,' that being the cumulative physical and emotional toll a team goes through when playing the Tide for 60 minutes, because simply put, they're just that much better than you. While not the best Alabama team Nick Saban's ever fielded, Carolina fans should keep a mindful eye on this game to see how Kentucky looks late in the 3rd or early in the 4th quarter, as it could carry over into next week.

Georgia Tech at Clemson

A week ago, there was a legitimate path where the Gamecocks and their archrivals could be battling for bowl eligibility in the Palmetto Bowl. While that possibility is still on the table, Clemson's chances look much better coming off a win over Notre Dame. Georgia Tech, however, has been a complete enigma this season, sitting with a 5-4 and possessing the capability of either pulling off the upset or losing in embarrassing fashion. If Clemson wins, it will give them a surge of momentum heading into their final home game against North Carolina, but if they lose, the pressure will be ratcheted right back up for Dabo Swinney.

No. 3 Michigan at No. 10 Penn State

This game will have no meaningful impact on South Carolina's season in any way, shape, or form, but the theater and drama of the sign-stealing scandal in Ann Arbor is hard to ignore. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh could receive a punishment as early as today from Big 10 conference commissioner Tony Petitti, which could have a significant impact on the Wolverines' chances of making the CFP and hand them a sweet dose of karma in the eyes of the rest of the sport.

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