The Florida Gators take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, SC. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Florida is favored by 10.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -575. The total is set at 144 points.
Here are my Florida vs. South Carolina predictions and college basketball picks for January 22, 2025.
Florida vs South Carolina Prediction
My Pick: PASS | Lean Over 143.5
My Florida vs South Carolina best bet is on the over, with the best odds currently available at BetMGM. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Florida vs South Carolina Odds
| Florida Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10.5 -110 | 144 -108 / -112 | -575 |
| South Carolina Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10.5 -110 | 144 -108 / -112 | +425 |
- Florida vs South Carolina spread: Florida -10.5
- Florida vs South Carolina over/under: 144 points
- Florida vs South Carolina moneyline: Florida -575, South Carolina +425
- Florida vs South Carolina best bet: PASS | Lean Over 143.5
Spread
I'm passing on the spread.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on this game altogether, but I lean toward the over.
My Pick: PASS | Lean Over 143.5
Florida vs South Carolina College Basketball Betting Preview
Can we ever buy low on the Gamecocks? The SEC’s worst team is now 0-5 in conference play, covering twice during the stretch, losing by three as nine-point road ‘dogs at Vanderbilt and losing by three as double-digit home ‘dogs against Auburn (which was without Johni Broome).
It won’t get easier as double-digit home ‘dogs against Florida.
The Gators look dominant, and they’ve been road warriors, going 5-1 ATS in games away from Gainesville.
The key to beating Florida is to keep it out of transition and off the offensive boards. While the Gamecocks are an elite defensive rebounding team (leading the SEC in defensive rebounding rate, 73%, per KenPom), their transition defense has been sketchy at best (11 fast-break points per game allowed, 34th percentile, per CBB Analytics).
In the half-court, Florida will try to beat you with the dribble, and Walter Clayton Jr. has been among the nation’s better ball-screen operators.
Unfortunately, South Carolina’s drop coverage will funnel dribble creation, and the Gamecocks haven’t been efficient at defending those sets on a per-possession basis (.91 PPP allowed, 30th percentile, per Synergy).
On the other end of the court, South Carolina will mainly play through the post, working inside-out in methodical half-court sets.
While Florida has plenty of size, the Gators are a tad vulnerable down on the interior (.90 post-up PPP allowed, 32nd percentile, per Synergy; 44% of opposing points allowed in the paint, 37th percentile, per CBB Analytics).
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a high-efficiency scoring game. Both teams should have scoring opportunities, and the Gators should get theirs in the open court.
But I worry that the pace will be too slow to bet the over.
South Carolina never runs in transition. The Gamecocks work methodically on offense (10% of shots in the last four seconds of the shot clock, 87th percentile, per Synergy) while forcing opponents into methodical sets (9% of opposing shots in the last four seconds of the shot clock, 78th percentile, per Synergy).
So, ultimately, I’ll be staying away from this game. But if I had to, I’d bank on a higher scoring game than expected.
