Shane Beamer has long been in favor of the SEC moving to a nine-game conference schedule, which finally came to fruition on Thursday. But almost every time he’s talked about it, he’s had one stipulation if the idea were to move forward.

South Carolina already has a built-in, but also tough Power Four opponent on the schedule. That would be Clemson, whom the Gamecocks play at the end of each season. Other SEC teams have this as well, with Kentucky playing Louisville, Florida playing Florida State, and Georgia playing Georgia Tech.

So what is it that Beamer wants to see? Fairness. If his team has to play a challenging out-of-conference opponent, the 15 others in the conference should also. But that will be the case when the league moves to nine games next year.

“The other 12 teams in our league don’t play an out-of-conference regular rival,” Beamer said on Thursday at Carolina Calls. “So that’s awesome that every school is going to be required to play one out-of-conference Power Four team.”

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On top of the annual Clemson game, South Carolina also has other Power Four opponents on the docket for the next few seasons. This includes home-and-homes with Miami (FL), North Carolina and NC State spread out through 2031.

The Gamecocks currently have three non-conference games scheduled for 2026, which won’t require them to change any plans. In 2027, however, they have four non-conference games scheduled with Furman, Appalachian State, Miami (FL) and Clemson.

This means between now and then, South Carolina will have to drop one of those games in place of an additional SEC opponent. Beamer told GamecockCentral there haven’t been any immediate discussions yet as far as what those plans will look like.

“I’m not shying away from competition. That’s awesome,” Beamer said. “I’m all for it, as long as the other teams that we’re competing against for playoff spots and all that as well, they’re playing the same 11 power four games a year, which is the direction that we’re going. So if they are, awesome. And if they’re not, that’s not very, let’s be honest, fair in a lot of ways as well.”

With the nine-game conference schedule, there will continue to be no divisions, as has been the case since 2024. Each team will play three consistent opponents every year to preserve traditional rivalries. The remaining six conference games will rotate among other SEC teams. Every team will face each other at least once every two years and will host and visit every other team within a four-year cycle.

And of course, teams will be required to schedule one additional high-quality nonconference opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Notre Dame each season.

As long as it’s all fair and balanced amongst each of the 16 teams, Beamer is perfectly OK with it. If not, he suggested that everyone needs to “look at what are we doing?”

“I’m excited. I think it’s great. As a competitor, I want to coach in those games. The fans want to come to those games,” he said. “But I also have an obligation to make sure that our team is in the same boat as the other 15 teams.”