The Auburn Tigers put their perfect 12-0 home record on the line against the SEC's best team, the South Carolina Gamecocks. It is time to continue our men's college basketball odds series with a South Carolina-Auburn prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
Despite Auburn's poor road record, they are still third in the SEC. They will need to clean up their play away from Neville Arena, but Auburn is a team that can make a run in March. This matchup will be a battle of Auburn's 12-0 home record against South Carolina's four-game road-underdog winning streak.
Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: South Carolina-Auburn Odds
South Carolina: +11 (-110)
Moneyline:
Auburn: -11 (-110)
Moneyline:
Over: 138.5 (-110)
Under: 138.5 (-110)
How to Watch South Carolina vs. Auburn
Time: 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
TV: SEC Network
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why South Carolina Will Cover The Spread/Win
Auburn are a great team at home. They have a 12-0 record and covered or pushed in eight straight. However, are they good enough to constitute the SEC's best team being an 11-point underdog? The Gamecocks have won seven consecutive games in SEC play, which includes a 6-1 against-the-spread record. Three of those outright wins have come as underdogs on the road. They were 1.5-point underdogs to Georgia and won 72-62, 14-point underdogs to Tennessee and won 63-59, and 2.5-point underdogs to Arkansas and won 77-64. If you go back to before the winning streak began, they've also beaten Missouri on the road as 3.5-point underdogs. It'd be bold to predict a South Carolina outright win in this game, but they seem more than able to cover the spread.
Why Auburn Will Cover The Spread/Win
Auburn is one of the best teams in the country on both sides of the ball. Their record is hindered by the inability to win games on the road in SEC play. They've lost three of their last six games, with two coming as favorites on the road. Luckily, Auburn will return home for two consecutive games against South Carolina and Kentucky. The confusing thing for Auburn is that their overall numbers and home/road splits aren't very different.
Auburn will be a difficult test for South Carolina's 15th-ranked defense. Auburn is 24th in the country, scoring 82.3 points per game. Their strength is at the rack, shooting 46.3% from the floor and getting to the line almost 24 times per game.
Auburn's defense shuts down opponents at an elite rate. They are third in the country, allowing their opponents to shoot just 38.1% from the floor. They are also one of the best three-point defending teams. This will be a difficult matchup for South Carolina, who thrives on taking shots from deep.
Final South Carolina-Auburn Prediction & Pick
The spread in this game is begging you to take South Carolina. South Carolina has won so many games outright on the road as underdogs that Auburn being 11-point favorites seems crazy. You have to be afraid you're falling into a trap by taking the Gamecocks, even though it does feel like the right side. South Carolina has managed their wins by piling up three-point attempts and playing lockdown defense. They've held their opponents on the road to 62, 59, 64, and 69 points in their last four wins.
This is where we change course. Auburn scores 85.6 points per game at home and topped 90 twice in their past four games. They are also the third-best three-point defending team in the nation and can eliminate South Carolina's offense. Look at South Carolina's visit to Alabama this season, when they lost 74-47, as an example of how this game can play out. Expect Auburn to flip the script in this game, shut down the Gamecocks 220nd-ranked offense, and handily end South Carolina's four-game conference road winning streak.
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Final South Carolina-Auburn Prediction & Pick: Auburn -11 (-110)
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