South Carolina vs Florida Elite 8 NCAAB Lines, Pick & TV Info

The seventh-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks will look to extend their ‘Why Not Us’ March Madness run while upsetting their third straight nationally-ranked opponent when they battle the fourth-seeded Florida Gators in an Elite Eight matchup on Sunday that will be the third meeting this season between the longtime SEC rivals. Now, let’s find out if the Gamecocks can pull off the upset in the college basketball lines to advance to the Final Four.

South Carolina vs Florida Elite 8 NCAAB Lines, Betting Pick & TV Info

When: Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 2:20 PM ET Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York TV: TBS Radio: South Carolina / Florida Live Stream: March Madness Live NCAAB Odds: Florida -3.5 Total: 132.5

Why Bet The South Carolina Gamecocks?

The best reason to bet on South Carolina (14-16- 2 ATS) in this contest is that the Gamecocks look like a completely different team from the one that entered the tournament having lost two straight and five of their final seven games overall. South Carolina has looked absolutely phenomenal in dispatching Marquette 93-73 in their opener before stunninng second-seeded Duke 88-81 in the second round. The Gamecocks looked even more impressive in smacking third-seeded Baylor senseless in their 70-50 Sweet Sixteen win on Friday. Senior shooting guard Sindarius Thornwell scored a team-high 24 points while Chris Silva and P.J. Dozier each contributed 12 points to help the Gamecocks get the win. South Carolina also limited Baylor to a dismal 30.4 percent shooting mark from the field (17-for- 56) and outrebounded the Bears in the win. Not only that, but Thornwell has clearly put his name in the mix for being an NBA lottery pick after scoring at least 24 points in all three tourney games while topping the 20-point plateau eight times in his last 10 games.

Why Bet The Florida Gators?

The Gators (19-13- 1 ATS) beat East Tennessee 80-65 in their opener and manhandled Virginia in their convincing 65-39second round win. Florida got past Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime on Friday as Chris Chiozz nailed a buzzer-beating three as time expired to lift the Gators to victory. Florida got a game-high 35 points from KeVaughn Allen while Chiozza and Kevarrius Hayes each added eight points in the win. The Gators got the win despite shooting 45.2 percent from the field and allowing the Badgers to drain a blistering 50.9 percent of their shot attempts.

South Carolina vs Florida Elite 8 Betting Pick: South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gators may have gotten past a very good Wisconsin team in their Sweet 16 showdown on Friday night, but the fact of the matter is that Florida was very fortunate to get the win and probably should have lost to the Badgers. While the Gators beat the Gamecocks 81-66 at home on Feb. 21 to easily cash in as a 7.5-point home favorite, South Carolinaa did manage to beat Florida 57-53 at home on Jan. 18 to narrowly cover the spread as a 2-point home fave. However, for me, the outcome of this contest will boil down to the fact that the Gamecocks are now a confident bunch that truly believes they can beat anyone in the country. South Carolina has won five of their last seven games while Florida has gone 4-3 over the same span while sufferinf consecutive losses to SEC rival Vanderbilt along the way. While the Gators have gone 3-1- 1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games and 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings against South Carolina, the Gamecocks have compiled a stellar 20-8- 1 ATS mark in their last 29 neutral site games. Despite the Gamecocks’ uninspiring 1-9 ATS mark in their last 10 games against their SEC rivals, I like red-hot South Carolina to get the ATS cover – by beating the Gators outright. My final score prediction is South Carolina 75 Florida 71