What Vegas Thinks: South Carolina trending as two-score underdog against Arkansas
South Carolina football will be an underdog in its first SEC road game of the season, but early movement on betting lines has favored the Gamecocks.
USC on Sunday opened as a 9.5-point underdog to No. 16 Arkansas. As of Tuesday, the consensus line had dropped to 8.5 points, according to VegasInsider.com.
Here’s a closer look at betting trends entering Saturday’s game between the Gamecocks (1-0, 0-0 SEC) and Razorbacks (1-0, 0-0 SEC).
Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
South Carolina against the spread last week
USC was an overwhelming favorite in last week’s home opener against Georgia State and made good on bettors’ choices, though it took a timely second-half rally to get there.
South Carolina closed as a 12.5-point favorite against Sun Belt program Georgia State while picking up 65% of all bets against the spread. USC was also favored at -625 odds on the money line (bet $625 to win another $100) and attracted 94% of those straight-up bets.
Things looked dicey after Georgia State picked off quarterback Spencer Rattler and went up 14-12 moments later in the third quarter, but South Carolina returned two blocked punts for scores and ripped off 23 unanswered points to win 35-14 and comfortably cover.
Arkansas against the spread last week
Hosting its first AP Top 25 matchup at home since 2016, Arkansas got out to a big lead against Cincinnati and held on late to cover after closing as a 6.5-point favorite.
Thanks to the play of quarterback KJ Jefferson, the Razorbacks went up 21-7 in the third quarter and 31-17 in the fourth quarter on the Bearcats before allowing a late touchdown. Still, their 31-24 margin of victory was enough to cover.
Arkansas had picked up 68% of bets and 59% of money on all bets against the spread leading into that Week 1 matchup. As a -256 favorite, Arkansas also got 55% of money line bets.
South Carolina vs. Arkansas betting trends
Arkansas, which jumped three spots in Tuesday’s AP Top 25, opened as a 9.5-point favorite against South Carolina on Sunday. That line’s dropped to 8.5 points as of Tuesday, but the public’s confidence in the Razorbacks hasn’t.
Arkansas has picked up 68% of all bets and 73% of all money on bets against the spread, as well as a whopping 97% of all bets and 94% of money on money line bets. The Razorbacks opened at -345 straight up; that’s since moved to -357 (bet $357 to win another $100).
South Carolina was 6-6-1 against the spread in coach Shane Beamer’s debut season but just 1-3-1 against the spread on the road. The Gamecocks also dropped all four of their SEC road games, losing to Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Missouri in 2021.
Arkansas was 9-4 last season and 7-6 against the spread. The Razorbacks were more effective at home, too, going 4-3 against the spread in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
SEC Week 2 odds
Consensus lines via VegasInsider.com
No. 1 Alabama (-20) at Texas
South Carolina at No. 16 Arkansas (-8.5)
No. 23 Wake Forest (-13.5) at Vanderbilt
Missouri at Kansas State (-7.5)
App State at No. 6 Texas A&M (-18)
No. 24 Tennessee (-6.5) at No. 17 Pittsburgh
Samford at No. 2 Georgia (-52)
No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida (-5)
Central Arkansas at No. 22 Ole Miss (-34)
San Jose State at Auburn (-23)
Southern at LSU (-47.5)
Mississippi State (-11) at Arizona
