South Carolina football gets best point spread against Florida in 6 years

The South Carolina football team has only been favored against Florida, a longtime SEC rival, three times over the last 25 seasons.

Come Saturday, make it four.

Barring any dramatic changes, the Gamecocks will close as a 2.5-point betting favorite against the Gators, according to the VegasInsider.com consensus line.

South Carolina hasn’t been favored against Florida since 2017 and has only been favored against Florida three times since 1997, per Odds Shark data, with the other instances coming in the 2011 and 2013 seasons.

Florida, which USC has played annually in the SEC East Division since 1992, has long been a thorn in the Gamecocks’ side and at one point had won 18 of 19 games in the series.

But Saturday’s point spread indicates the competitiveness of the series in recent seasons. Florida is 7-6 against South Carolina in their last 13 meetings dating back to 2010, and no team has won more than three games in a row in that stretch.

Home-field advantage is likely giving the Gamecocks (2-3, 1-2 SEC) the bump over the Gators (4-2, 2-1 SEC) entering Saturday’s game, which is also USC’s designated homecoming weekend and South Carolina State Fair weekend at fairgrounds next to the stadium.

Bettors love the spread, too. As of Wednesday, South Carolina had picked up 87% of bets against the spread and 94% of the money on bets against the spread, meaning a clear majority of those gamblers think South Carolina will win the game by three or more points.

USC opened as 1-point favorite against Florida, according to VegasInsider, but that line has moved up to 2 or 2.5 points in all the major sportsbooks. ESPN’s Football Power Index also gives South Carolina a 57.5% chance to win.

South Carolina enters the game coming off a bye week (which, historically, has indicated Gamecocks success). Coach Shane’s Beamer squad is 2-3 and 1-2 in the SEC with conference losses to No. 1 Georgia and No. 21 Tennessee and a win over Mississippi State.

Florida is 4-2 and 2-1 in the SEC with one big home (at home against No. 11 Tennessee), one resounding loss (at Kentucky) and a blowout of Vanderbilt. The Gators are 0-2 on the road this season, which is the second for former Furman quarterback and S.C. State and Clemson assistant Billy Napier.

The first two South Carolina-Florida games of Beamer’s tenure have also been quite memorable. In 2021, USC upset Florida in Columbia, 40-17, despite entering the game as a 20.5-point underdog during Beamer’s first season.

And in 2022, Florida routed South Carolina 38-6 in Gainesville, with the Gamecocks failing to score an offensive touchdown and losing fumbles on three of their first four offensive snaps of the second half.

That 31-point loss set the stage for a two-week hot streak that saw South Carolina beat AP Top 10 Tennessee and Clemson teams in back-to-back weeks and reach the Gator Bowl.

A few more USC-UF betting notes, via the Odds Shark database:

• South Carolina is 3-2 against the spread this season and mostly recently failed to cover the spread against Tennessee as a 12-point underdog (lost by 21).

• Florida is 2-4 against the spread this season and most recently covered the spread against Vanderbilt as an 18-point favorite (won by 24).

• In its last 10 meetings with Florida, South Carolina is 5-5 against the spread (4-6 overall). In its last 20 meetings with the Gators, USC is 11-9 ATS (7-13 overall).

• Florida is 3-7 overall and 2-8 against the spread in its last 10 SEC road games.

• South Carolina is favored at home against an SEC opponent for the first time since October 2022 against Missouri (USC lost that game 23-10 as a 3.5 favorite). USC’s last SEC win at home as a favorite came against Vanderbilt in October 2021 (won 21-20 as a 19.5-point favorite).