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The Missouri Tigers take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Check out our college football odds series for our Missouri South Carolina prediction and pick.
The Missouri Tigers are what one would call a “half a loaf” team. They have become very good – maybe even surprisingly good – on one side of the ball, but they are noticeably limited on the other side. The Missouri defense has done great work this year for coach Eli Drinkwitz. You might recall that Missouri held Georgia to just 26 points and held the defending national champions to just two touchdowns earlier this season, almost creating one of the year’s biggest upsets. Missouri was a 30-point underdog in that game, which tells you that Georgia was expected to score at least in the high 30s if not the low-to-mid 40s. Missouri performed far better than anyone reasonably expected in that game. The Tigers recently limited Vanderbilt to 14 points in a win over the Commodores. Missouri contained Auburn and would have beaten the Plainsmen if not for a fumble on the Auburn 1-yard line in overtime.
This brings us to the other side of the ball.
The Missouri offense has been below average this season. The Tigers faltered at Auburn, barely beat Vanderbilt (winning 17-14), didn’t do enough in the red zone against Georgia (scoring 22 points and paying for kicking too many field goals), and have generally fallen well short of expectations. Missouri brought in wide receiver Luther Burden for the 2022 season. Burden was a five-star prospect, just the third five-star recruit Missouri has signed in the history of the program since the star ratings were tracked in national college football recruiting. There were high hopes for the Mizzou passing game, but they have not come to pass, pun intended. This team badly needs a spark.
South Carolina’s passing game under quarterback Spencer Rattler has not been special, but that hasn’t been too much of a problem – at least not yet – for the Gamecocks. They will need more from this passing game in future weeks when they face Tennessee and Florida, but they have managed to win important games without an especially dynamic offense. The defense and special teams have made huge plays in recent wins over Texas A&M and Kentucky, two teams clearly rated higher than South Carolina at the start of the season. The Gamecocks continue to show resilience and resourcefulness under head coach Shane Beamer, a very encouraging sign for a program which – if it can land bigger recruits and better transfer portal athletes in the future – could evolve into an SEC East contender the way Tennessee has with Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker.
Here are the Missouri-South Carolina NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Missouri-South Carolina Odds
Missouri Tigers: +3.5 (-110)
South Carolina Gamecocks: -3.5 (-110)
Over: 45.5 (-106)
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Under: 45.5 (-114)
Why Missouri Could Cover the Spread
The Tigers have a defense which can pounce on Spencer Rattler and the South Carolina passing attack. South Carolina needed a kick return and some high-impact defensive plays to beat Texas A&M last week. The Gamecocks beat Texas A&M and Kentucky on nights when those two opponents lost their starting quarterback for all or part of a game due to injury. South Carolina has been getting fortunate. If Missouri can eliminate big mistakes and allow its defense to win, the Tigers can pull off a road upset.
Why South Carolina Could Cover the Spread
The Missouri offense is going to struggle. South Carolina's defense has been consistently strong, and if it gets just one or two turnovers to create a short field for the offense, the Gamecocks have the rushing attack and the other ingredients which can enable the team to keep winning as long as Spencer Rattler avoids key errors.
Final Missouri-South Carolina Prediction & Pick
This is likely to be a low-scoring, hard-fought game, but South Carolina has a reliable defense and a lot of confidence. Missouri doesn't have as much of either ingredient. The Gamecocks own a clear — if not enormous — edge in this game.
Final Missouri-South Carolina Prediction & Pick: South Carolina -3.5
