Gamecocks still solid play in spite of line movement

It appeared for a while as if South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had a team capable of playing for a national title this season, but his hopes were killed on the road in October.

The Gamecocks' midseason losses at Louisiana State and Florida diverted their road to a different game - the Outback Bowl on Tuesday in Tampa, Fla.

In early December, when oddsmakers made South Carolina a 3½-point favorite over Michigan, I hyped the Gamecocks as my top pick of the bowl season. As anticipated, the line has gone up, but even at minus-6 it isn't too late to fire on Spurrier's team to cash an easy winner in this spot.

I made South Carolina a 12½-point favorite against the Wolverines and will be shocked if the game isn't decided by double digits.

The Gamecocks thrived in their last eight games in the favorite's role, compiling a 6-2 record against the spread. South Carolina won 10 of its 12 games this season, with eight of the victories coming by double-digit margins, including a 27-17 win at Clemson without starting quarterback Connor Shaw in the regular-season finale.

Michigan (8-4) got drilled 41-14 in its opener against Alabama on a neutral field in Arlington, Texas, and also fell to Nebraska, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

There does not appear to be a lot of separation between South Carolina and Alabama, the only Southeastern Conference team that faced the Wolverines.

Look for the Gamecocks defense, led by end Jadeveon Clowney, to control Denard Robinson en route to a win and cover for the clearly superior favorite from the SEC.

Four more plays for upcoming bowls:

■ Pinstripe Bowl, today, Syracuse (+4) over West Virginia - The Orange finished the regular season on a 5-1 run straight up and ATS. On the flip side, the Mountaineers lost five of their last seven games. Ryan Nassib (3,619 passing yards and 24 touchdowns) should lead Syracuse to an outright victory. The Orange posted a 4-2 ATS record with three outright wins in six tries as an underdog.

■ Music City Bowl, Monday, Vanderbilt (-7) over North Carolina State - Didn't we see SEC teams beat up on the Atlantic Coast Conference enough during the last week of the regular season? The Commodores have huge edges in location (in Nashville, Tenn.) and motivation, and they are the better team regardless. The Wolfpack's motivation can be questioned after the dismissal of coach Tom O'Brien.

■ Chick-fil-A Bowl, Monday, Louisiana State (-5) over Clemson - Clemson was exposed as a fraud by South Carolina, which was forced to start its backup quarterback. The only blemishes on LSU's resume are narrow defeats at Florida and against Alabama. I think LSU will dominate in the trenches on both sides, and Clemson won't be able to slow LSU's ground attack.

■ Fiesta Bowl, Thursday, Kansas State (+9) over Oregon - Wildcats coach Bill Snyder is 11-1 ATS in his past 12 games as an underdog. Kansas State's only loss came at Baylor when star quarterback Collin Klein was two weeks removed from sustaining a concussion. Klein predictably played his worst game of the year against the Bears.

I made the Ducks 4½-point favorites, so I'm confident the line value is with an underdog that has a decent chance of winning outright.

Last week: 2-1 against the spread

Season: 45-16-1

Brian Edwards of VegasInsider.com and BrianEdwardsSports.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.