Game Line: Tennessee Basketball Opens As Favorites At South Carolina

Tennessee basketball opened as 4.5-point favorites ahead of Wednesday night’s matchup at South Carolina according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 139.5

South Carolina won the first meeting between the two teams this season with the Gamecocks upsetting Tennessee in Knoxville back in late January. Analytical based college basketball website KenPom projects Tennessee to earn a 72-67 victory of the Gamecocks.

The matchup between Tennessee and South Carolina has major repercussions on the SEC Championship race. Tennessee can clinch at least a share of the conference title with a win over the Gamecocks on Wednesday night. The Vols can win the SEC Championship outright if Florida beats Alabama on Tuesday night and Tennessee beats South Carolina.

After back-to-back tight wins over Texas A&M and Florida, South Carolina remains in the heart of the SEC Championship race. The Gamecocks are a game back of Tennessee entering the top 20 matchup in Columbia. A South Carolina win pulls the Gamecocks into a tie atop the SEC standings with one-game remaining.

South Carolina has been the biggest surprise in the SEC this season. The media picked the Gamecocks to finish last in the SEC before the season but South Carolina just keeps winning and remains in the SEC race.

“A team that doesn’t commit a lot of mistakes,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of the Gamecocks. “A team that knows exactly what they’re looking for. A team that can very quickly exploit the matchups that they want to get if you do a lot of switching and they get you in a position where they can get the switch they want. They took great advantage of it here in a lot of different ways. But just extremely fundamental, plays the pace that they want to play with. And Lamont (Paris) has done just an incredible job.”