Dean Etheridge
South Carolina is having a bit of a season to forget, and unfortunately for them things aren’t about to get any easier with the Alabama Crimson Tide in town to play them tonight. The Gamecocks won their last match, can they make it two in a row when they face Alabama? Let’s take a look with our latest free NCAAB betting picks.
- What; NCAAB
- Who; South Carolina Gamecocks vs Alabama Crimson Tide
- Where; Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
- When; Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
- Start Time; 9 pm ET
Short stay at the top for Alabama
With March Madness fast approaching, things were looking very good for the Alabama Crimson Tide. They had moved their way up to second in the betting to win the 2023 National Championship, and they had also worked their way up to the number one ranking. The season was – and still is to be fair – gaining momentum and Nate Oats’ team was seemingly timing their run into top form perfectly.
Down goes No. 1!
Stifling defense and clutch scoring down the stretch lifted No. 10 @Vol_Hoops to a 68-59 win over No. 1 Alabama on Wednesday night.https://t.co/xnLMj5VMH4
— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) February 16, 2023
But the Crimson Tide suffered a disappointing loss to the Tennessee Volunteers last weekend. And it was a loss that has seen them already bumped off the number one ranking, after just one week at the top. The Houston Cougars have not taken over the top spot. This is the third time that Kelvin Sampson’s side have topped the rankings this season.
Betting to win the 2023 National Championship
As we’ve just mentioned, the Cougars are the favorites to win the 2023 National Championship. A position they’ve held for a number of weeks now. The best NCAAB college basketball betting sites have them listed at +750.
Despite their loss to the Volunteers last week, the Alabama Crimson Tide are still second in the betting at +800. They are followed by Purdue and Kansas at +1000, with UCLA next at +1200.
As has been the case for a few weeks now, there are no major changes in the betting. Houston has been leading the way for some time now. The move up the betting to second place by Alabama has been the only noticeable change over the past few weeks. Please check out our odds table below for more betting odds on this year’s winner.
| 2023 Latest NCAAB National Championship Winner Betting |  |  |  |
| Houston Cougars | +750 | +750 | +750 |
| Alabama | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Purdue | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Kansas | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| UCLA | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Arizona | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Baylor | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Tennessee | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Connecticut | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Texas | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Virginia | +2800 | +3000 | +2800 |
| Xavier | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Gonzaga | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
Who are the favorites to reach the final four?
And with things set to heat up even more in college basketball over the next few weeks, we’re also taking a look at the latest odds from the best betting sites for March Madness.
In the betting to reach the final four, Bovada go with Houston as their favorites at +130. They are followed by Alabama (+175), Purdue (+200), Kansas (+200), UCLA (+275), Arizona (+325), and Baylor (+400). This looks a far tighter betting market.
Can South Carolina finish the season with a flourish?
It’s been a horrible season for South Carolina. They sit 12th in the Southeastern with a disappointing conference record of 3-11. Luckily for the Garnet and Black, there are two poorer sides in the conference, with Mississippi (2-12) and LSU (1-13), both sitting below the Gamecocks in the table.
And it’s recent matches against the hapless Mississippi and LSU that has seen the Gamecocks win two of their last three.
In their last outing, South Carolina defeated LSU 82-73 in Louisiana at the weekend. This win came a week after the Gamecocks defeated Mississippi 64-61 at The Pavilion. Sandwiched in between those two wins is a 75-64 home defeat to Vanderbilt.
Alabama winning run brought to an end in Tennessee
As for Alabama, yes, they lost the big one, 68-59 against the Tennessee Volunteers a week ago. The win was called by the top sportsbooks, who had the Volunteers as their favorites to win. But the winning margin of nine was bigger than expected, with the best NCAAB betting sites only giving Alabama a start of three on the handicap spread.
Before the loss to the Volunteers, the Crimson Tide had won four on the spin after their shock 93-69 loss at the hands of Oklahoma. That defeat was made all the more surprising by the fact that Alabama had won their previous nine leading into the match.
The Crimson Tide still sit top of the Southeastern with a conference record of 13-1. They have an overall record of 23-4 this season. In their most recent match, they recovered from the disappointing loss against Tennessee by defeating the Georgia Bulldogs by a small margin of 49 points last weekend. It’s fair to say the 108-59 win wasn’t a bad way to bounce back from a loss.
No. 1 @AlabamaMBB defeats Georgia 108-59.
That's the Crimson Tide's most points scored since 2021, when they beat the Bulldogs 115-82. pic.twitter.com/kH7tRICEUb
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 19, 2023
South Carolina vs Alabama Betting Odds and Picks
Looking at the table and the form, it won’t come as much of a surprise to find that Alabama is as short at -5000 with some sportsbooks on the moneyline. If you think South Carolina can win, you can get odds of +1200. Even that looks a bit short to me.
On the handicap line, the Gamecocks are getting a start of +17.5 points. With the start, South Carolina is -110. Alabama is also -110, starting from -17.5 points. The total points spread is set at 148.5, both over and under is -110. These prices are from BetOnline, you can read more about them in our BetOnline sportsbook review.
It’s a simple call really. South Carolina has been awful this season. Can they be trusted to win on the handicap with a start of 17.5? I don’t think so. Alabama to win on the handicap can be the only pick here.
