Jake Bentley and the South Carolina Gamecocks should see plenty of familiar faces in the crowd as they tangle with the Virginia Cavaliers in Saturday’s Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. The home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers is just 90 minutes from the Gamecocks campus, giving Bentley a bit of an edge as he looks to end an impressive collegiate career on a positive note in a matchup of former Atlantic Coast Conference rivals.

Belk Bowl Betting Odds Analysis

South Carolina is a modest favourite in this one and comes in having ended the season as a strong cover option, going 4-1 ATS in its final five games. But Virginia has been just as potent as an underdog play, having covered four of five times this season – including two outright wins. That said, the Gamecocks have been a bettor’s dream in situations like this, having covered in four straight bowl games and six consecutive neutral-zone contests overall.

This total has dipped from a 55 open to 53.5 – and given how both teams are trending, there might be an edge here. South Carolina has surpassed the total in four of five bowl games and is 4-1 O/U in its previous five outings overall. Virginia is on an even better run, having converted the over in five consecutive bowl appearances while going 6-1 O/U in its previous seven non-conference games. The Cavaliers are also 4-1 to the over in their last five overall.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Bentley ended the regular season on a tear, racking up 16 touchdown passes against just four interceptions over his final five games while surpassing 7,000 career yards in a Gamecocks uniform. And while the Cavaliers certainly represent a significant challenge – having corraled 15 interceptions while allowing just 12 TD passes – Bentley won’t be intimidated after lighting up Clemson’s vaunted defence for 510 yards and five scores in a 52-35 loss back on Nov. 24.

Virginia Cavaliers

The Cavaliers will likely need to win the red zone battle if they have any hope of securing their first bowl victory since 2005 – and given how they fared this season, that won’t be easy. Virginia had the second-worst red-zone conversion rate of any team in Division I, turning just 73.5 percent of their visits into points. And while things weren’t quite so bad on the defensive end, they were still awful; the Cavaliers allowed an 87.5-percent success rate that ranked 97th.

Gamecocks vs. Cavaliers Prediction