The South Carolina Gamecocks are on a much-deserved bye week in Week 7, their first of the season. The Gamecocks are coming off of a dominant 38-19 road win over the then-No. 16 ranked Florida Gators, as head coach Shane Beamer got his season back on track.
After the bye next week, South Carolina will take on the Tennessee Volunteers at home. Although the game is over a week away, the folks out in Las Vegas have released some early point spreads for the matchup.
Let's take a look at what Vegas thinks of the matchup between the Vols and Gamecocks early.
Tennessee vs. South Carolina opening line
Odds via DraftKings
- Spread: Tennessee -1.5
- Over/Under: 51.5
Odds change periodically and are subject to change.
As you can see, Tennessee is a slight favorite going on the road in Columbia against South Carolina. There's a good chance that number could shift throughout the weekend, however, as the Vols take on the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. Depending on if Tennessee gets a big home win over the Tide, or Alabama dominates the Vols, that number could adjust accordingly.
As for that game, Tennessee is listed as a 7.5-point underdog against Alabama at home for Saturday.
Coach Beamer will be looking to continue the positive momentum his team held going into the bye week. Although the Gamecocks entered last week's game against Florida with three straight SEC losses, South Carolina got its first road win over the Gators since 2014.
If South Carolina wants to beat Tennessee, Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers will want to play like he did against the Gators. He threw for 279 touchdowns and had five total touchdowns, four passing and one rushing.
The two former SEC East rivals will be playing for the first time since 2023. Tennessee holds an all-time series lead at 27-2-11. The Vols have also played well against the Gamecocks, winning the last seven meetings dating back to 2013. But Tennessee's two wins in 2019 and 2020 were vacated by the NCAA.
South Carolina's last victory over Tennessee at home came in 2018, as Will Muschamp's team got a 27-24 victory. In fact, South Carolina won three straight in the series from 2016-2018.
Even if South Carolina stays as an underdog against Tennessee, the Gamecocks are expected to be much more rested and healthy than Tennessee will be.
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