South Carolina vs Florida: SEC betting odds, preview and pick

Steve Spurrier leads his 5-1 South Carolina Gamecocks into Gainesville to take on his former team Saturday afternoon (3:30 pm ET, CBS).

It's another tough SEC clash with a tight point spread between top-ranked teams, challenging the Florida Gators to continue their unbeaten season. They were 3-point home favorites at most sportsbooks tracked by OddsShark.com earlier this week.

Can South Carolina rebound after a tough loss at LSU? Can Florida extend their 7-1 SU home run against the Gamecocks, who are 8-2 within the nation's toughest conference lately.

Only about 41 percent of the betting public was backing Florida as of Thursday, according to the consensus betting stats.

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South Carolina opened this season with a tough 17-13 victory at Vanderbilt, beat East Carolina 48-10 and UAB 49-6, ventured back into SEC play with a 31-10 win over Missouri, came from behind to beat Kentucky 38-17 and then destroyed No. 5 Georgia 35-7.

With the blowout of the Bulldogs, South Carolina moved to No. 3 in the AP poll. Last Saturday, though, the Gamecocks suffered a blow to their conference championship and BCS hopes when they lost at LSU 23-21. So after a great start USC can't afford another loss.

On the season South Carolina has scored 30 touchdowns and allowed just eight.

Florida, meanwhile, started off this season with an underwhelming 27-14 win over Bowling Green, then welcomed Texas A&M to the SEC with a 20-17 come-from-behind victory. The Gators then beat Tennessee 37-20, Kentucky 38-0 and, in a big-time showdown, LSU 14-6.

Last week the Gators rushed for 326 yards, 177 by QB Jeff Driskel, in beating Vanderbilt 37-17. On the season Florida has scored 18 touchdowns and allowed nine, and has outrushed foes by a 233-108 YPG margin. With its 6-0 start Florida has moved from No. 23 in the pre-season AP poll to No. 2 in the first BCS standings of the season.

So the Gators lead the SEC's East Division at 5-0, a game up on 4-1 South Carolina. The Gamecocks still control their own destiny though, because a victory over the Gators, combined with their win over Georgia, would give them the head-to-head tie-breaker among the three top contenders in the East.

Earlier this week college football books opened Florida as a three-point favorite for this game, but as of Wednesday evening the Gators had been bumped to -3.5.

On the injury front South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore is dealing with a bruised hip, and his status for Saturday is uncertain.

South Carolina has won the last two games in this series. Last year the Gamecocks led 14-3 at the half and held on for a 17-12 victory. These two teams have been two of the best in college football to bet on this season. South Carolina is 6-1 ATS, Florida 5-1.

Free Pick: This should be a good one, and despite some bumps and bruises for South Carolina we'll take the points with the Gamecocks. (courtesy of PickShark.com)

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