National predictions ahead of South Carolina-Coastal Carolina

This Saturday, South Carolina (3-7; 1-7) will return home for the Gamecocks’ first game at Williams-Brice Stadium since October. Shane Beamer’s team will take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-4; 5-2) in an in-state matchup. USC won the most recent meeting between the two schools, a 49-15 win in Columbia in 2018.

South Carolina enters game 11 coming off five losses in a row to top-15 teams. Tim Beck’s CCU squad lost last week to Georgia Southern, but the Chanticleers had won four in a row prior to that.

Despite being a top-10 team earlier this season, South Carolina has fallen completely out of the top 25 voting for about two months. Coastal Carolina hasn’t featured in this year’s rankings at any point.

Saturday’s contest will be one of three in-state games for the Gamecocks this season and one of two to close the year, ahead of the annual Palmetto Bowl against the rival Clemson Tigers.

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Because of South Carolina’s struggles and the fact that the Gamecocks are playing a non-power conference opponent, national predictions are limited for the matchup.

South Carolina is a 24.5-point favorite, according to BetMGM. The over/under is 49.5 points, implying a final score of 37-12.5 in favor of the home team.

Based on ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor, South Carolina has a 94.2% chance to win on Saturday. The ESPN SP+ model is a little lower on the Gamecocks’ odds, pushing them down to 84%. The analytics projection lists 34-19 as the most likely final outcome, meaning it predicts USC to win but Coastal to cover in an effort that hits the “over.”

College Football News’ Pete Fiutak picked Carolina to win, 38-13. That margin would equal a slim cover for the Gamecocks. He said that South Carolina’s avenue to a win could include its first 200-yard rushing effort of the season.

Points spread guru Tony Tellez went with USC to win and to cover the 24.5 points.

Fox Sports’ AI pick (yes, that is artificial intelligence) picked the Gamecocks to win, 34-18. That would mean a Coastal cover in a losing effort.

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If the national predictions hold, South Carolina would move to 4-7 on the season and stay at 1-7 in the SEC. That would lead the Gamecocks into the Clemson game coming off a win, as well. Carolina has won two of three over their in-state rivals.

But first, Saturday’s showdown in Columbia will begin at 4:15 p.m. SEC Network will handle the television broadcast, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming.

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