Texas A&M Aggies (4-0 SU, 4-0 ATS) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (2-2 SU, 2-2 ATS)
College Football Week 5
Date/Time: Saturday, October 1, 2016 – 4:00 PM EDT
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
TV: SEC Network
by KEITH, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: TAMU -18/SOCAR +18
Over/Under Total: 47.5
The Texas A&M Aggies (4-0) and the South Carolina Gamecocks (2-2) have managed to cultivate a budding rivalry in the SEC since the Aggies joined the conference during expansion. Now, the two will provide another chapter as they meet on Saturday, October 1st, in Columbia, South Carolina in a pivotal SEC contest. The Aggies have won the last two meetings between both sides and in 2015, they emerged victorious 35-28. The game will be showcased on the SEC Network at 4:00 PM EDT.
Kevin Sumlin's bunch continue to roll as the Aggies were authors of an impressive 45-21 win against a top-25 raked Arkansas Razorbacks, last week in College Station with the 12th Man out in force. Against the spread, the Aggies are also 4-0, showcasing the fact they live up to the billing as well as win. The Aggies feature a playmaker at quarterback in Trevor Knight who transferred in after losing his starting role at Oklahoma. Knight is still learning the offense but he has said to have emerged as a leader and point of ignition for the Aggies attack. The strength of A&M's game is the defense, anchored by defensive end Miles Garrett who is a wrecking machine there is no other way to put it.
The Gamecocks have already shown signs of improvement when comparing them to last year. The same team that lost to The Citadel at home, followed up it up with a dramatic dogfight defeat against arch nemesis Clemson at the end of the 2015 season, but we will cover that more in depth later. South Carolina stumbles in at 2-2, most recently off a road loss at Kentucky where they were beaten by a touchdown 17-10. The Gamecocks' one home game this year so far was a successful one when they held off ECU 20-15. While the Gamecocks are certainly in a transitional period, they are still all the more formidable. South Carolina won their opening game as a five point road dog at Vanderbilt to start off the season against many dissenting and pessimistic opinions.
A&M smacked up the Hogs in front of a large audience last week and as we have seen in the NFL, when many see an impressive win, an overreaction is likely to occur the week after. Nevertheless, this sets up the Aggies to be in a situation of vulnerability. The bigger the audience, the greater chance the public will smother the team in the following week. We may likely be seeing such a phenomenon occur and potentially the Aggies could be spotting far more points than required.
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South Carolina as we have highlighted already has been a problem for many that come in to Columbia, expecting a win. While the Gamecocks have certainly lost home field advantage compared to years past, the environment alone makes them competitive with less talented personnel. For a team like Texas A&M, they might find themselves prone to be endangered late in the game because they take this team too lightly or are looking ahead. It is very likely the public has already done this neglecting the preponderance of Gamecock results against top-ranked teams in years past. Look no further than #1 Clemson last year and #1 Georgia in 2008, where both teams had to escape by theatrics to get a win even if they were heavily favored. The money has been all on the Aggies suggesting the overreaction is on and Texas A&M may be thinking this will be a walk in the park. The amount of points the Aggies are giving away here is far too much considering the situation at hand and the heavy lean on them may suggest going the other way may be the right move. Let us forget the Aggies have a potentially huge match-up with Tennessee coming in just a week and if they are focused on this contest, the Gamecocks will be hanging around in the 4th quarter. If at nothing else the defensive mind of Coach Will Muschamp will cause USC to try to keep this one closer than the points we are taking back suggest.
KEITH's Pick to Cover the Point Spread: South Carolina +18. Tired of your credit card not working for sportsbook deposit? End that problem today and bet the Soouth Carolina vs. Texas A&M game by signing up at Bovada Sportsbook where your credit card WILL work and where you'll receive a generous 100% sign-up bonus!
