South Carolina football enters Georgia week as a huge betting underdog ... again
The South Carolina football team has made a lot of progress and generated a lot of hype during coach Shane Beamer’s tenure.
But when it comes to facing No. 1 Georgia, the sport’s reigning back-to-back national champion, Las Vegas oddsmakers haven’t batted an eye.
USC (1-1) is a 26.5-point underdog heading into Saturday’s game against UGA (2-0) in Athens, according to VegasInsider.com consensus line.
That point spread marks a fifth straight season of South Carolina entering a game against Georgia as a three-touchdown betting underdog — or worse — dating back to 2019.
Despite South Carolina’s strong finish last season, featuring wins over AP Top 10 Tennessee and Clemson teams and a Gator Bowl appearance, the point spread for Saturday’s game is actually larger than it was for the teams’ 2022 meeting (also in Week 3).
USC was a 25-point home underdog to Georgia last September and failed to cover, losing 48-7 at Williams-Brice Stadium to its longtime rival and annual opponent in the SEC East Division.
Factoring in last year’s 41-point loss as well as South Carolina’s season-opening loss to No. 20 UNC, this year’s point spread is about 1.5 to 2.5 points higher, depending on which major sportsbook’s line you’re using.
DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM all list South Carolina as a 27.5-point underdog for Saturday’s game at Sanford Stadium (3:30 p.m., CBS), where Georgia has won a nation-best 20 consecutive home games.
Bettors are also flocking toward Georgia, with 66% of the point-spread bets and 56% of the point-spread money being placed on UGA as of Wednesday. That means a majority of gamblers expect the Bulldogs to win by 28 points or more.
This year’s point spread, though, is an improvement from the one USC faced in 2021, the last time it played UGA in Athens. That season, Beamer’s first, South Carolina closed as a whopping 31.5-point underdog to Georgia.
It was the first time in 20 years South Carolina closed as a 30-plus-point underdog dating back to a 1999 game against reigning national champion Tennessee, The State previously reported.
South Carolina is 1-7 in its last eight games against Georgia with the only win coming in 2019 as an unranked, 21-point underdog. USC beat UGA 20-17 in double overtime that day for one of the most notable upsets in program history, and Georgia hasn’t lost a home game since.
A few more USC-UGA betting notes, via the Odds Shark database:
South Carolina is 1-1 against the spread this season. USC failed to cover as a 2.5-point underdog to UNC (lost by 14 points) in Charlotte and covered as a 17.5-point favorite against FCS Furman (won by 26).
Most sportsbooks list Georgia as 2-0 against the spread this season, though there’s some discrepancy in the final point spreads since the Bulldogs have only faced FCS UT Martin (won by 41) and Ball State (won by 42) this season.
USC is 2-8 overall and 4-6 against the spread (ATS) in its last 10 games against Georgia. In its last 10 games against Georgia in Sanford Stadium, USC is 3-7 overall but actually has a winning record against the spread (7-3).
South Carolina is 2-8 overall and 3-7 ATS in its last 10 SEC road games.
Georgia is 10-0 and 6-4 ATS in its last 10 SEC home games.
SEC Week 3 odds
No. 14 LSU (-7.5) at Mississippi State
No. 15 Kansas State (1.5) at Missouri
South Carolina at No. 1 Georgia (-26.5)
No. 10 Alabama (-29.5) at South Florida
UL Monroe at Texas A&M (-30.5)
No. 11 Tennessee (-7.5) at Florida
Samford at Auburn (N/A)
Vanderbilt (-3.5) at UNLV
Georgia Tech at No. 17 Ole Miss (-23.5)
BYU at Arkansas (-10.5)
Akron at Kentucky (-24.5)
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
