NC State Athletics announced Wednesday afternoon that Wolfpack football is adding a home-and-home series with SEC opponent South Carolina to its 2030 and 2031 nonconference schedules.

This scheduling seems to be part of a broader movement to see more difficult opponents before conference play starts. The 2030 schedule already consisted of a trip to BYU, and 2031 is accompanied by a trip to play Notre Dame.

College football teams like to schedule nonconference games well in the future. In fact, NC State is already scheduled to face Notre Dame four times between 2029-2037, with Florida, BYU, Cincinnati and now South Carolina sprinkled in that range.

The Gamecocks are familiar foes in the history of Pack football. Dating back to 1900, the two have faced off 58 times, including every year from 1956-91. The beginning of that time span was as ACC opponents, but after 1970, it was just an annual nonconference meetup. 

Most recently, South Carolina beat the Wolfpack in 2017 at the Belk College Kickoff Game in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium. Apologies to any NC State fans who remember that one because, despite outgaining the Gamecocks 504-246 in total yards, the Pack gave up a score on the opening kick to Deebo Samuel and fumbled twice in a 35-28 loss under quarterback Ryan Finley. 

In the matchup before, a Russell Wilson-led Pack team lost 7-3 while only putting up 133 total yards at Carter-Finley Stadium. South Carolina holds the series record advantage at 28-26-4 over NC State, but the teams are 5-5 in their last 10 matchups. 

So go ahead and put it on your schedule: NC State travels to Columbia, South Carolina in 2030, and the Gamecocks come to Raleigh in 2031.