The No. 17 South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in a tricky trap game. This one kicks off at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Gamecocks are listed as 7.5-point road favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at O/U 51.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction and best bet for this Week 11 matchup.
Arkansas vs. South Carolina Prediction, Preview
South Carolina Preview
The Gamecocks are one of the hottest teams in the country. They have rattled off four SEC wins in a row and were ranked No. 17 in the latest CFP rankings. The Gamecocks have a real path to the College Football Playoff with games against Georgia and Clemson left on their schedule. If they can beat the No. 1 team in the country and beat a name-brand team like Clemson on the road, they will almost certainly catapult into the CFP field. However, before they can worry about any of that, they need to focus on beating Arkansas. This is an incredibly tricky spot on the road, and to make matters worse, their superstar quarterback LaNorris Sellers is likely not at 100% health for this game after sustaining an injury in last week’s win over Texas A&M.
Arkansas Preview
Arkansas is clearly one of the bottom-three teams in the SEC. They have just one win in SEC play, and that came against Vanderbilt. They close out the season against three ranked teams, so there is a real chance that they finish this season with just three total wins. It has been a tough first season at Arkansas for Ryan Silverfield, but he is a coach trying to build up a program. This isn’t a coach on the hot seat with a bunch of players waiting to transfer out. Silverfield could create a lot of momentum heading into next season by just pulling off one upset over the next three weeks.
Arkansas vs. South Carolina Pick, Best Bet
My best bet for this game is for Arkansas to cover as 7.5-point home underdogs. There should be a good atmosphere for the penultimate home game of the season in Fayetteville. This is a chance for the Razorbacks to pick up a signature win to carry into the offseason after a tough 2026. Meanwhile, South Carolina knows it is now in a real position to make the College Football Playoff, and they are staring down a matchup with the No. 1 team in the country next week. It will be very hard for Shane Beamer to keep his team focused on this matchup against a bottom-tier SEC team.
The health of LaNorris Sellers is also a massive question mark. He was able to return to the game against Texas A&M and had a herculean touchdown run to clinch the victory while hobbling on one leg. However, if he is hobbled for this whole game against Arkansas, the South Carolina offense won’t be the same. The success of this offense relies heavily on the mobility and running threat of Sellers. If he needs to operate as a pocket passer, South Carolina is much easier to stop.
Even if Sellers is healthy, Arkansas should still keep this game close. The spot is just awful for the Gamecocks, and Arkansas gave Tennessee a real scare at home a few weeks ago, so they are capable of hanging with these highly-ranked teams. If Sellers doesn’t play to his normal level, South Carolina has a real chance of getting upset and spoiling what would be an epic matchup next week. This offense is so reliant on his legs, and without that factor, it could be in real trouble.
