South Carolina vs. Illinois Expert Pick and Prediction – December 31, 2024

SOUTH CAROLINA VS. ILLINOIS EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – December 31, 2024 — Is there a less impressive 9-3 team than Illinois? The Fighting Illini really benefited from a weak Big Ten schedule, as they didn’t beat a single Top 25 opponent all season. Their best win turned out to be Michigan, and that wasn’t much to write home about.

Beating South Carolina would be far more impressive. The Gamecocks have been perhaps the hottest team in the nation for the past month, and several people thought they should have made the playoff over the likes of Indiana or SMU.

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Winning over Illinois wouldn’t prove anything, but it would be an important step forward in the SEC’s argument. The league has actually taken several hits from Tennessee getting destroyed by Ohio State, and the talk about Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina has faded ever since that moment.

But one thing South Carolina never did was take a bad loss. While Alabama fell to Vanderbilt and Mississippi lost to Florida, the Gamecocks’ worst loss was a three-pointer to LSU. They’ve played much better over the past six games, and they’re on track to get to 10 wins while making a strong statement for next year.

The Odds

Kickoff

When: Tuesday, December 31 at 3 p.m.

Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla. 

TV: ABC

Public Bets: Unavailable

Public Money: Unavailable

South Carolina vs. Illinois In-Season Trends

Since the loss to Mississippi, South Carolina has been on fire. The Gamecocks have gone 6-1 SU and ATS, with their only SU loss coming against Alabama. They’ve won six in a row overall, and they’ve gone 3-1 ATS as a favorite. The only spread loss was against Missouri, where South Carolina was giving 10.5 and won by 4.

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Illinois closed strong with three straight wins, scoring 38 points every time. However, the Illini also played three fairly weak opponents down the stretch, with Rutgers being the only bowl team. That isn’t exactly strong preparation for an SEC opponent.

Weather

With temperatures pushing 79 degrees and only a few clouds in the sky, weather won’t play much of a factor in this matchup.

The Difference-Makers

LaNoris Sellers has proven a tough customer for many good defenses this year, and Illinois is not exactly one of the stronger defenses in the Big Ten. The Illini gave up 49 points to Purdue while barely surviving, and Sellers can exploit a lot of mismatches.

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Luke Altmyer got good news and bad news as far as opt-outs go. The good news is that South Carolina will be without pass rusher Kyle Kennard, which should give Altmyer time to find his receivers. The bad news is he won’t have Pat Bryant, who was his main pass-catcher during the season.

The Pick

The Gamecocks are heavy favorites for a reason: they’re the stronger team and they’ve played a much tougher schedule. Illinois just wasn’t impressive against the good teams that it came across this year. The Illini weren’t competitive with Oregon, didn’t threaten Penn State and found a way to lose to Minnesota.

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South Carolina should be able to overcome the opt-outs and take advantage of a below-average Illinois defense. The Gamecocks make the most sense here.