NCAA Football
2025-10-25 - Alabama Crimson Tide at South Carolina Gamecocks
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Week 9
Saturday 25th October 2025 - Scheduled 3:30pm
8:30pm (British Time)
Preview
The opening defeat to the Florida State Seminoles has not aged very well, but playing in the SEC means there were always going to be opportunities for the Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1) to prove themselves worthy of playing in the College Football Playoff.
Credit has to be given the team for a 4-0 record within the Conference and wins over the Georgia Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers and Missouri Tigers gives the Crimson Tide the inside track to play in the SEC Championship Game and earn one of the twelve Playoff spots that will be handed out at the end of the regular season.
They will be going into a Bye Week following this game and the Crimson Tide still have some challenging games on the schedule in a loaded Conference. Next month they will face the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners and Auburn Tigers, but the scary prospect for all of Alabama's rivals is that Head Coach Kevin DeBoer believes there is more to come from his team.
Any road game in the SEC is going to be a test and the South Carolina Gamecocks (3-4) will be motivated to snap their two game losing run. Head Coach Shane Beamer continues to downplay links with the Virginia Tech Hokies where his father Frank had so much success, but the distraction is perhaps partly to blame for the disappointing efforts in back to back losses to the LSU Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners.
The latter of those defeats was at home in Week 8 and it is going to be tough for an inconsistent Offensive unit to get things turned around.
While it has been possible to run the ball against the Alabama Defensive Line, the Gamecocks have not had any consistent success in pounding the rock as the competition has ramped up. That has made things much tougher for LaNorris Sellers at Quarter Back, who was expected to really grow in the position this year, and it is always very difficult to make plays from third and long spots on any consistent basis.
Playing behind an Offensive Line that has struggled to stand up to the pass rush has only increased the difficulty for LaNorris Sellers and he is expected to be under pressure in this one. There will be some successful moments, but sustaining drives is not going to be easy for South Carolina and that is going to make it tough to keep up on the scoreboard.
The step down in level of competition should help the Alabama Crimson Tide this week as they continue to find a way to get their Offensive unit up to the standards expected in Tuscaloosa.
One player who has been improving the more time he spends on the field is Quarter Back Ty Simpson and his numbers have been key for the Crimson Tide- 18 Touchdown passes with a single Interception would capture the attention for any team, but doing so while playing the majority of games in the SEC is very impressive and Simpson is likely going to be a key figure in this game.
The Crimson Tide have not really been able to run the ball very well in recent games in the SEC, and they are not expected to have a lot of success against this Gamecocks Defensive Line. That has not stopped the Crimson Tide having success on this side of the ball thanks to Ty Simpson and his improving chemistry with some big time Receivers and this is a chance for Alabama to leave everything on the field before heading off for a Bye Week.
With a spread set where it is for this latest SEC game, the Crimson Tide will likely need the Defensive unit to set up a couple of short fields.
They have shown they can do that and Alabama's Quarter Back can do enough to push the Crimson Tide clear, even in a relatively low-scoring game.
Alabama are 9-0 against the spread before playing the LSU Tigers so there is no reason to believe they will be looking past South Carolina to a game taking place in two weeks time. And with the Gamecocks struggling Offensively, the SEC favourites can win this one by a couple of Touchdowns on the road to enhance their place at the top of this powerful Conference.
Prediction
Lay the points with the road favourite.
The Pick :
South Carolina 17-34 Alabama Crimson Tide
