South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt Pick
Will Vanderbilt cover the small number tonight when it hosts South Carolina at 8:00PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Commodores are a 4.5-point home favorite versus the Gamecocks, while the over/under currently sits at 42.5 points. While the total hasn’t moved off the original number posted by oddsmakers, Vanderbilt has gone from a 3-point opening favorite to -4.5.
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Despite all their struggles last season, the Gamecocks finished with a 6-6 record against the spread in their 12 lined games. As an underdog, they were 3-4 at the betting window and as the road team, they were 2-2 against the spread, covering the spread by an average margin of -1.4 points per game.
The Commodores struggled mightily offensively last season but thanks in large part to their stingy defense, they covered the spread in seven of their 12 games in 2015. Vanderbilt wasn’t favored in many games (two to be exact), and split at the betting window in those two games. As the home team, the Commodores fared quite well, covering in four of their six games.
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OUR PICK: I don’t feel comfortable giving up any amount of points with Vanderbilt but it’s hard to see how South Carolina will move the ball tonight. New coach Will Muschamp will bring plenty of hope to the Gamecock defense and freshman signal-callers Brandon McIlwain and Jake Bently could bring some optimism to the table in a year or two. But for right now, Derek Mason has built a defense led by junior linebacker Zach Cunningham that will frustrate most SEC offenses, especially one with as much inexperience as South Carolina brings to the table.
2016 COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1 PREDICTION: VANDERBILT COMMODORES -4.5