College Football Betting: South Carolina at Central Florida

Tricky non conference matchup for SEC powerhouse South Carolina as they come off a bye week and take to the road to face American Athletic Conference opponent Central Florida. South Carolina had little trouble with North Carolina in their opening contest, winning 27-10 and covering as a -11 point home favorite before losing both SU and ATS against the University of Georgia at Athens last weekend. They got back on the winning track in their next game, beating Vanderbilt at home but the Commodores did manage to get inside the pointspread and cover by 1/2 point as +10′ underdogs. The UCF Knights are no joke and are coming off a 10-4 season under coach George O’Leary, now in his 10th year in Orlando. They beat Penn State in their last matchup as +4′ point road underdogs and in the process rolled up 507 yards against the Nittany Lions-the largest offensive output against a Penn State team since Joe Paterno left the program.

There may be some value on South Carolina going forward as the betting public seems to have dismissed the Gamecocks following the Georgia loss. We think that’s a mistake and that this is still a very good team. South Carolina is heading into a bye week after this game and play about as soft of a schedule the rest of the way as is possible in the rugged SEC. Following the bye they travel to UCF, play Kentucky at home before trips to Tennessee and Missouri. The toughest remaining games on the schedule are a 11/16 home game against Florida and the season ending rivalry game against Clemson. That being said, this is a team that may take advantage of the relatively easy road ahead to refocus-for that reason we’re somewhat reticent to lay big prices with them as sizable favorites.

We may have underestimated Central Florida heading into the season but this is a very capable team with talent on both sides of the ball. The Gamecocks haven’t been a great road team in recent years (6-4 SU/5-5 ATS since 2011) and could have trouble regaining focus with the rest of their conference schedule looming. The Knights have been a big money winner in non conference play and expect them to be in this game throughout with the outright upset a distinct possibility.

BET CENTRAL FLORIDA +7 OVER SOUTH CAROLINA