South Carolina vs. LSU Prediction, Picks & Odds: Gamecocks Favorites in SEC Clash

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25 January 2024

South Carolina vs. LSU Prediction, Picks & Odds: Gamecocks Favorites in SEC Clash

South Carolina puts its undefeated record on the line Thursday against LSU in a battle between title favorites, and our South Carolina-LSU prediction based on the best college basketball odds expects the unbeaten Gamecocks to outlast the defending champion Tigers.

At long last, one of the most anticipated games of the women's college basketball season takes place Thursday when the unbeaten South Carolina Gamecocks (17-0) travel to face the defending champion LSU Tigers (18-2).

These SEC rivals are the top two title favorites by the latest Women's March Madness odds and winners of the last two national championships. They'll meet Thursday night in Baton Rouge for the first and only time during the regular season in a game tat feaures four of the top 10 contenders by the Women's Wooden Awards odds.

Here is our best South Carolina vs. LSU prediction and our college basketball picks (odds via our best March Madness betting sites; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

South Carolina vs. LSU prediction

South Carolina -7 (-114 via BetRivers) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We've already seen some strong action on this game, which was dealing at South Carolina -9.5 in the early Thursday afternoon before moving at least two points across our best sports betting apps in favor of the defending champions.

But that movement is in the wrong direction, and I'll gladly take a discount on the country's best team.

While LSU entered the season as the top-ranked squad, South Carolina quickly wrestled that away and has clearly looked the part as the nation's lone undefeated team. The Gamecocks have outscored opponents by an average of 38.6 points, and they've beaten the four ranked on their schedule by a combined 83 points.

Even after the team lost three top-10 picks from last year's group, former top-five recruit Kamilla Cardoso (13.3 points per game) has stepped into a leading role, and she anchors the nation's best scoring defense (52.1 PPG). South Carolina also ranks fifth in scoring (90.8 PPG), more than 10 points better than last year's squad, with Cardoso and newcomers Te-Hina Paopao (12.5 PPG) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (11.7 PPG) leading the way.

On the other side, the reigning champions are better on paper but worse production-wise after already matching their two losses from 2022-23 while navigating a much weaker schedule. Top scorer Angel Reese (19.9 PPG) has shaken off a tough start, but still hasn't been reaching her 2022-23 heights. Also, LSU's nation-best offense (91.6 PPG) fell flat during a shocking loss to unranked Auburn earlier in January.

Let's not forget that last year's title-winning team started the season 23-0 before a trip to South Carolina ended in a 24-point defeat. That marked the 14th consecutive loss for LSU against its conference rival, which has won an SEC-record 27 straight road games and is the last team to beat the Tigers in Baton Rouge.

As always, South Carolina's elite frontcourt separates Dawn Staley's group from all competitors. That'll be an issue for an LSU team that doesn't boast the size to contend with Cardoso or the depth to survive for 40 minutes. Even if this game is close early, that mismatch could prove to be the difference down the stretch.

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South Carolina vs. LSU best odds

BetRivers (-114)

South Carolina opened Thursday as a 9.5-point favorite across our best sports betting sites. But we started to see some movement around noon ET when the spread began inching toward LSU. Within an hour, the line had moved as much as 2.5 points in favor of the home underdogs.

That leads to some strong value on favorite South Carolina, which is dealing as short as -7 at BetRivers. Wherever you choose to bet it, I'd highly recommend checking out our best sportsbook promos to get the most out of your wager for Thursday's big game.

South Carolina vs. LSU odds analysis

South Carolina opened as a 9.5-point favorite but was dealing as short as -7 in the hours before Thursday's game. That comes after the Gamecocks notched a 24-point win during the 2022-23 meeting between these squads to extend a 14-game winning streak against the Tigers.

The total has remained at 150.5 across most of our best sportsbooks, though the folks at Caesars are hanging an abnormally high total of 152.5 with both sides juiced to -115. That'll be your preferred shop if you like the Under in this game featuring two top-five offenses.