Florida vs South Carolina Prediction 1/22/25 College Basketball Picks

The Florida Gators and the South Carolina Gamecocks meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Colonial Life Arena. Here’s a Florida vs South Carolina prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Florida vs South Carolina pick. We will examine:

The Florida Gators’ recent form and player performance

The South Carolina Gamecocks’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Florida Gators

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the South Carolina Gamecocks

Recent betting trends in games played between Florida and South Carolina

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Florida vs South Carolina game

Florida Gators Betting Preview

The Gators have had a pretty great season thus far—minus a couple of bumps in the road along the way. Florida opened on a stellar winning streak over their first 13 games, though. Those victories came courtesy of South Florida, Jacksonville, Grambling, Florida State, Florida A&M, Southern Illinois, Wake Forest, Wichita State, Virginia, Arizona State, North Carolina, North Florida, and Stetson in succession. Since then the Gators have posted a spotty 3-2 run over their last quintet. The wins in that time came over Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Otherwise, it was losses to Kentucky and Missouri for a 16-2 overall record so far this year.

In the Texas matchup over the weekend, the Gators came out of the break with a seven-point advantage 37-30. Florida got better in the second half on a 47-30 run and took the blowout victory at home 84-60 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Alijah Martin with his 22 points, six boards, and four assists. Walter Clayton added 19 points with four rebounds and three assists, while Alex Condon doubled up on 11 points with 12 boards, three assists, and four steals. Both Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen chipped in five bench points apiece.

South Carolina Gamecocks Betting Preview

Over on the South Carolina side, they came out of the gate this year with a sketchy run, then hit a solid win streak in November and December. The Gamecocks have hit the skids since then, though. South Carolina went 3-3 in their first six outings with losses to North Florida, Indiana, and Xavier. In their winning streak, the Gamecocks dispatched Virginia Tech, Boston College, East Carolina, South Carolina Upstate, Clemson, Radford, and Presbyterian in succession. Since then it’s been a five-game losing streak. The Gamecocks have fallen to Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma in that time for a 10-8 overall record so far this season.

In the Oklahoma game back on Saturday, the Gamecocks were behind by four points coming out of the locker room. South Carolina was outpaced 48-32 the rest of the way and ended up falling 82-62 in the end. Tops in scoring was Morris Ugusuk with 15 points and two rebounds. Collin Murray-Boyles notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds with five steals. Jacobi Wright also finished in double-figures with 10 points and five assists.

Why the South Carolina Gamecocks will win

• The home team has won eight of South Carolina’s last 10 games.

Why the Florida Gators will win

• Florida has won 13 of its last 14 night games.
• South Carolina has lost each of its last six games against Conference opponents.
• South Carolina has lost the first half in 17 of its last 20 games against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.

Florida vs South Carolina Prediction

I’ll stick with Florida here. The Gators looked pretty darn good against a talented Texas team in their last outing, which helps erase the memory of a tough loss to Missouri in the previous matchup. Florida posted 49.3 percent shooting with a 41-33 rebounding edge on the Longhorns, holding Texas to 36.4 percent shooting with 14 turnovers on the other side. It was an encouraging all-around performance. The Gators are scoring great this year, with 71 or more points in every game so far.

As for South Carolina, they’re mired in a five-game losing streak with a gauntlet of tough matchups ahead—let alone the fact that they’ve scored 68 or fewer points in each of those five defeats. The Gamecocks begin a seven-game swing against ranked teams with this outing, and I don’t like their chances at keeping a cover pace here—even at home.