Oregon vs South Carolina Odds, Props & Picks (March 21)

• Oregon Ducks vs South Carolina Gamecocks is set to take place in Pittsburgh, PA, on Thursday, March 21
• The 6-seed Gamecocks are 1.5-point favorites to advance past the 11-seed Ducks
• See the latest Oregon vs South Carolina odds, props, and picks for Thursday afternoon’s NCAA Tournament matchup

They had to run the table in the conference tourney run to do it, but the Ducks are going dancing!

A team that would have otherwise missed out on the NCAA Tournament, the Oregon Ducks (23-11, 16-18-0 ATS) became a “bid thief” by running down the Pac-12 to capture their first conference title since 2019. Their reward? A date with the SEC’s South Carolina Gamecocks (26-7, 23-10 ATS) in a first-round matchup in Pittsburgh, PA.

The #6 Gamecocks are -1.5 favorites going into Thursday’s matchup against the #11 Ducks. Tip-off at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh is set for 4:00 pm ET.

Oregon vs South Carolina Odds

The Gamecocks are also slight moneyline favorites to advance at -120, while the Ducks currently sit at even money. Whoever survives earns themselves a date against either the #3 Creighton Bluejays or the #14 Akron Zips.

While the game total is sitting on the low side at 133.5, both Oregon (25 of 33) and South Carolina (23 of 33) hit 133 points or higher this season on a fairly regular basis.

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Odds as of March 20 at BetMGM Sportsbook.

Oregon vs South Carolina Team Stats

Oregon Runs Through the Pac-12 to Claim Automatic Bid

Oregon returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 as an 11-seed, marking only the third time the Ducks are seeded in the double-digits during coach Dana Altman’s tenure.

Initially, Oregon looked destined for a third-consecutive NIT bid. Yes, the Ducks put together their fourteenth consecutive 20+ win season under Altman, but bad losses are still bad losses. An at-large bid would have been out of the question after falling to Santa Clara, Syracuse, UCLA, and Cal while also being swept by Arizona and Colorado.

And then the Pac-12 Tournament happened.

After surviving an upset bid from UCLA in their opener, the Ducks rallied from being down 10 at half against Arizona in the semifinal before holding off Colorado to capture the Pac-12 Tournament title.

Senior center N’Faly Dante has been phenomenal in the Ducks last five games, averaging 20.0 PPG and 9.8 RPG, while also shooting 100% from the field twice during that span.

South Carolina Matches Highest Win Total in School History

After a largely successful regular season under second-year coach Lamont Paris, the South Carolina Gamecocks are making just their second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 20 years.

After notching 26 wins before the start of the NCAA Tournament, South Carolina has already matched their highest win total in school history. The last Gamecocks team to hit 26? The 2016-17 team that went to the Final Four.

Can a team that matches school records with its methodical playing style (46th in KenPom’s offensive efficiency and 354th in tempo) once again get tantalizingly close to a national title? The Gamecocks’ number of wins overwhelmingly says, “Yes!”, but their types of losses may suggest otherwise.

Though South Carolina went 5-0 in their Quad 2 games, they also went 6-5 against Quad 1 competition.

Pairing wins against Kentucky and at Tennessee with close losses to the Vols and Clemson are manageable, but double-digit thrashings against Alabama (by 27 points) andAuburn twice (by 40 and 31 points) are a concern. Factor in a couple of Quad 3 losses at home to Georgia and LSU, and all of a sudden South Carolina’s record becomes a demonstrably mixed bag.

All told, if South Carolina can control proceedings by limiting their opponent’s possessions, they can hang with the best of them. But that is a big “if”.

Oregon vs South Carolina Player Props

Ducks/Gamecocks college basketball player props taken from DraftKings on March 20th. 

Oregon vs South Carolina Picks & Prediction

Without question, South Carolina has more lopsided losses than you’d expect from a 26-win team. But in their defense, those losses appear to be caused by kryptonite-level matchups against high-octane offenses. When their defense clicks, like it did against Kentucky, the Gamecocks can pull off big wins.

To their credit, Oregon’s run to the Pac-12 title was impressive, figuring out how to beat teams in a short-tournament format who previously dominated them in the regular season.

Instead, I’d use the Ducks’ last game against Washington State, a 6-point home loss a month ago, as a benchmark. The Cougars’ advanced metrics (64th in offensive efficiency, 27th defensive efficiency, and 314th in tempo) are remarkably similar to those the Gamecocks boast.

If the South Carolina defense can hold the Oregon shooters to below their 3P% season average as the Cougars did, it’ll be the Gamecocks moving on to the second round.

#11 Oregon vs #6 South Carolina picks:

• South Carolina -1.5 (-105)
• Collin Murray-Boyles over 13.5 points (+115)
• N’Faly Dante over 8.5 rebounds (-120)