As far as bowl games go, the Citrus Bowl may be one of the most genuinely comparable to the season. Both rosters should be rather intact. At which point, one has to ask, why is this spread still in the single digits? While the Gamecocks might have some Playoff disappointment to get over, that will be five weeks in the past by New Year’s Eve. South Carolina’s defensive line should ruin Illinois’s entire offensive approach, while QB LaNorris Sellers has a Heisman campaign to launch. When a program closed a season as strongly as SC did, with greater heights imaginable in the next season, a strong bowl showing is not a hard motivation to sell. Meanwhile, the Illini likely already peaked.