ESPN’s FPI gave its prediction for the Week 4 primetime battle between No. 23 Mizzou and South Carolina, as the SEC programs who call the city of Columbia home do battle.
This time, the matchup will be in Mizzou’s Columbia, as the teams kick it off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. This could’ve been a showdown of ranked teams, with both teams ranked coming into Week 3. But all of that changed with 1 big home loss for South Carolina last Saturday night against Vanderbilt, and it specifically changed with 1 particular play.
That play happened in the 2nd quarter, when South Carolina star quarterback LaNorris Sellers was knocked out of the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit. He didn’t return and the Gamecocks never recovered, losing 31-7 and falling out of the AP Top 25. The availability of Sellers against Mizzou has obviously been a hot topic this week, and he was listed as questionable on South Carolina’s availability report on Wednesday.
Perhaps because of the uncertainty of Sellers or perhaps because Mizzou is at home, or maybe a combination of both, ESPN’s FPI prediction is heavily tilted toward the Tigers. The FPI is giving Mizzou an 80.2% chance to take care of business at home in its SEC opener and improve to 4-0.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said he was optimistic that Sellers would be able to return on Saturday night, as the 2-1 Gamecocks try to rebound from the loss in their SEC opener.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
