The NCAA Tournament First Round continues into Saturday. One of the biggest games of the day sees the South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Southern Jaguars.
The No. 1-seeded Gamecocks are 52.5-point favorites over the No. 16-seeded Jaguars on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Let’s dive into Saturday’s First Round matchup, tipping off at 1 p.m. ET in Columbia, South Carolina.
South Carolina vs. Southern prediction, preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks have been one of the top programs in women’s college basketball over the past decade. Dawn Staley has proven herself to be the best coach in the game this side of Geno Auriemma. Over the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, the Gamecocks have won three national titles and made seven Final Fours. In fact, Dawn Staley’s squad has made five straight Final Fours and can basically be penciled in to that spot again this season. However, South Carolina was not the best team in the SEC this season. Two of their three losses this season came against Texas, including in the SEC Championship Game. After missing out on that conference tournament title, Dawn Staley’s squad will have a chip on its shoulder.
Southern finished third in the SWAC in the regular season, but went on a run through the SWAC Tournament to get into the March Madness field. However, they were forced to play in the First Four, where they took on Samford. The Jaguars kept the hot streak going, winning by double-digits in Sacramento. However, they now face an infinitely tougher task, taking on the Gamecocks in a true road game in Columbia. The talent gap between Southern and South Carolina is astronomical. The Jaguars will just try to play tough defensively and make this a respectable final score.
South Carolina vs. Southern pick
The Gamecocks should roll in this game. Dawn Staley’s squad is levels above the Southern Jaguars, and this is a home game. South Carolina is a balanced team, with five scorers averaging double figures this season. However, standout guard Joyce Edwards is a top-25 scorer in the nation, averaging 19.6 points per game. Meanwhile, Southern doesn’t have a single player averaging double digits this season. The biggest concern for the Gamecocks would be one standout scorer having the best game of their lives, but Southern doesn’t even have a player who could do that level of damage. This should be a more than comfortable win for South Carolina.
The biggest concern with laying the spread here is the astronomical number. A 52.5-point spread is hard to cover, no matter how much better you are than your opponent. However, Southern has faced one other top-five team this season, UCLA. The Bruins beat them 88-37, a 51-point win. The only SEC team Southern played this season was Ole Miss, which beat them 94-44. Southern has two 50+-point losses already this season, and those were in the regular season when teams likely took their foot off the gas pretty early. Dawn Staley will not do that here.
Last year, Dawn Staley’s group won its opening round game by 60 points. The year prior, they won by 52 points. In 2022, the Gamecocks won by 58 points in the Round of 64. Suffice to say, Dawn Staley has a tradition of laying it on these high seeds in the opening round. The Gamecocks should continue that tradition and beat Southern by at least 53 points.
