National predictions ahead of South Carolina-Alabama

This Saturday, the South Carolina (3-4; 1-4) will play again at Williams-Brice Stadium. Shane Beamer’s team will take on the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1; 4-0) on Saturday afternoon. Last year’s matchup was one of the closest of the year for both teams, but not everyone agrees that will be the case in 2025.

Shane Beamer’s team enters game eight coming off a loss, a 26-7 lopsided defeat to Oklahoma. Kalen DeBoer’s group, contrastingly, comes in riding a six-game winning streak (most recently beating Tennessee, 37-20), including four in a row over ranked opponents over the last month.

Despite being a top-10 team earlier this season, South Carolina has fallen completely out of the top 25 voting in recent weeks. Alabama has been ranked all year, and this week’s edition of the poll has the Tide at No. 4.

Saturday’s contest is the third of a stretch of five tough games for the Gamecocks. Carolina will take on five top-15 teams in a row.

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As expected based on how the 2025 season has gone, national opinions on this game side with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama is a 12.5-point favorite, according to BetMGM, but that number was as high as 13.5. The over/under is 47.5, implying a 30-17.5 final score.

Based on ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor, South Carolina has just a 17.8% chance to pull the upset. The ESPN SP+ model is a little higher on the Gamecocks’ odds, pushing them to 26%. The analytics projection lists 29-19 as the most likely final outcome, meaning it predicts Alabama to win but Carolina to cover.

On The Hard Count, On3’s JD PicKell put in his prediction for an Alabama win and cover on Saturday. “Out of respect for South Carolina,” he didn’t want to admit to what he believed the final score could be.

PicKell’s On3 colleagues, Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman joked on their podcast Andy and Ari that they want good vibes to come back to Columbia. However, they don’t see it happening this weekend. Staples even said Alabama could “not show up and still win.” Unsurprisingly, the duo both picked the Crimson Tide to win and to cover.

On his Always College Football show, ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy predicted that the Gamecocks will cover but the Crimson Tide will win.

Fox Sports’ AI pick (yes, that is artificial intelligence) picked Alabama to win and cover the spread, 31-15.

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If these national predictions hold, South Carolina would drop to 3-5 on the season and 1-5 in the SEC. Reaching bowl eligibility would require at least one upset–possibly two–down the stretch, as well.

Saturday’s showdown will begin at 3:30 p.m. ABC will handle the national television broadcast, while the ESPN app and ESPN+ make it available via streaming.

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