South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Auburn Tigers Betting Odds: Analysis and Prediction

The Auburn Tigers will look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they host the South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC matchup on Saturday. The Tigers are coming off a bye week after losing at Mississippi State 38-23 as two-point road favorites, and they are 5-0 straight up and against the spread in their last five home games against conference opponents.

Point spread: Tigers opened as 14-point favorites at Jordan-Hare Stadium, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark (line updates and matchup report).

College football pick via Odds Shark computer: 38.6-27.8 Tigers

Why the South Carolina Gamecocks can cover the spread

The Gamecocks may have failed to cover the spread in six of their past seven games, but they remain an intriguing team that is capable of hanging around against just about any team in the SEC this year. Before beating Furman 41-10 last week as a 37-point favorite, South Carolina lost its previous two games by a combined eight points.

And outside of a surprising 52-28 home loss to Texas A&M in their season opener, you have to go back two years to find the previous time the Gamecocks lost by more than 11 points. South Carolina may not be able to pull off the upset, but staying close against Auburn and covering the double-digit spread is certainly not out of the question.

Why the Auburn Tigers can cover the spread

Despite losing to the top-ranked team in the country two weeks ago, the Tigers still have to believe they can make another run at the national championship like they did last year. Winning out may prove to be too tough of a task considering their remaining schedule, but a 20-14 road win at Kansas State is definitely looking a lot better now that the Wildcats beat Oklahoma 31-30 on the road last week.

Auburn is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games as a home favorite and has also covered five of the past six meetings with the Gamecocks, although the teams have not played each other since 2011.

Smart pick

While South Carolina has the potential to cover the spread, Auburn is the much safer pick here. The Gamecocks just can’t be trusted based on how inconsistent they have played so far this season, while there’s definitely no shame for the Tigers in losing to the nation’s No. 1 team on the road.

Auburn still controls its own destiny in the national title picture and has other big games to play down the stretch. Convincing wins are important for the Tigers to build their case for getting into the four-team playoff field at the end of the year, so their focus will be on blowing out South Carolina here.

Betting trends

• South Carolina is 14-6 SU in its last 20 games on the road.
• Auburn is 5-1 ATS in its last six games when playing South Carolina.

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds-tracker app.