Texas A&M has one heck of a task on their hands this weekend when they travel to Columbia, South Carolina for a contest against Shane Beamer's Gamecocks. This was a game that many considered winnable in the preseason, given the relative talent of each roster— though SC had some premier names at some top positions— but now, with the way the season has gone for each team, most see the Aggies as the team who will be entering as a sizeable underdog.
The early line for this game confirms that intuition. FanDuel lists South Carolina as a 7.5-point favorite in their opening line for this contest, which— while not as big as the line for the Alabama or LSU games— is a pretty sizeable margin.
Texas A&M and South Carolina have been playing yearly since 2014, but this is the first time since that initial contest that the Gamecocks have been favored coming into a game against the Aggies. In fairness, A&M won every single game in the series until 2022, and the Gamecocks only have two wins overall, though they came very close last season.
Texas A&M is a sizeable underdog against South Carolina for good reason
The Aggies are 0-3 as an underdog this year, losing to LSU, Alabama, and Missouri on the road— also making the Aggies winless away from Kyle Field. South Carolina has lost two games at home so far this year, one to Mississippi State and one to Kentucky in overtime— but since that game against the Wildcats, this team has looked entirely different.
Blowing out the Florida Gators on the road a few weeks back has seemed to completely reenergize this South Carolina team, as they took down the top-12 Tennessee Volunteers the following weekend. Then, they just put up more points on Oklahoma up in Norman than any other team so far this year— including the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens.
That isn't even to mention the revenge factor in this one. Carolina, if you somehow forgot, built a 27-point lead at halftime over the Aggies last year, but Texas A&M overcame that unbelievable deficit for one of the most memorable comebacks in school history, winning 31-30.
You can bet that their fanbase and coaching staff has not forgotten about that, nor has LaNorris Sellers, Dylan Stewart, or Nyck Harbor. Though this game is scheduled for 2 PM CT, this is going to be one heck of a hornet's nest in Williams Brice— not only is there massive momentum around this South Carolina program, there is going to be a rabid desire to take the Aggies down in particular.
The plus for the Aggies is the fact that they are coming off of a bye, while South Carolina has just played two very physical football games. The Gamecocks are likely going to be without starting running back Matt Fuller for the remainder of the season, according to Shane Beamer, and Dylan Stewart went down with an injury in the previous game as well.
All that said, there are some ways that the Aggies can exploit some edges in this game, which we'll be sure to cover in-depth as the week rolls on. For now, though, this is a line that the Gamecocks— and the Aggies— have earned, and it shows the state of these two programs right now.
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