Very few things on the sports calendar can match the excitement and unpredictability of the NCAA Tournament. So why not add betting to the mix via the college basketball odds at FanDuel Sportsbook?

The 2024 edition of the big dance has arrived, and here at FanDuel Research, we'll have you covered with a betting guide for each game.

The No. 11 seed Oregon Ducks will take on the No. 6 seed South Carolina Gamecocks this Thursday. With neither side coming in as the chalk, nailing the outcome of this game could be a key notch on your bracket's belt.

Let's take a look at which bets you should consider for the Oregon vs. South Carolina clash.

All college basketball odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook, and lines may change after this article is published.

NCAA Tournament Betting Picks

Oregon vs. South Carolina Betting Odds

Date and Time: Thursday, March 21st at 4:00 p.m. ET

Spread: South Carolina -1.5 (-105)

Total: 133.5

Moneyline:

• South Carolina: -118
• Oregon: -102

Oregon vs. South Carolina Statistical Breakdown

Advanced stats from KenPom, Bart Torvik and numberFire.

Oregon Ducks

• numberFire Ranking: 54th
• Bart Torvik Ranking: 56th
• KenPom Ranking: 55th
  • Adjusted Defensive Efficiency Ranking: 70th
  • Adjusted Offensive Efficiency Ranking: 50th
  • Adjusted Tempo Ranking: 197th

South Carolina Gamecocks

• numberFire Ranking: 52nd
• Bart Torvik Ranking: 47th
• KenPom Ranking: 49th
  • Adjusted Defensive Efficiency Ranking: 54th
  • Adjusted Offensive Efficiency Ranking: 46th
  • Adjusted Tempo Ranking: 354th

Oregon vs. South Carolina Best Bet

Oregon +1.5 (-115)

If the Ducks did not muster their way to a Pac-12 Tournament championship this past Saturday, we wouldn't be talking about them this week.

With key conference tourney wins over Arizona (No. 2 seed) and Colorado (No. 10 seed), the Ducks cashed a ticket to the Big Dance and will now look to carry that momentum into Thursday.

The Gamecocks, despite a 26-7 season, are fresh off the heels of a brutal 86-55 SEC Tournament defeat at the hands of Auburn.

Although the Gamecocks boast a better adjusted offense and adjusted defense than the Ducks do, their model-based advantage is slim at best.

numberFire's rankings put South Carolina at 52nd (9.43 nERD) and Oregon at 54th (9.28 nERD).

BartTorvik's game projections anticipate a 68-67 South Carolina victory while numberFire thinks the gap is even smaller, projecting a 68.9-68.4 South Carolina win.

This is all to say that this game seems primed to come down to the wire. And in a contest that will live and die by each possession, we should get granular.

I believe that granularity favors the Ducks.

South Carolina is terrible at forcing turnovers, ranking 307th in forced turnover percentage. Oregon, meanwhile, is not a sloppy team. They turn the ball over at the 45th-lowest rate and have a clear advantage in the takeaway battle.

The Gamecocks have found defensive success in limiting the three-ball, allowing the 23rd-lowest three-point rate in college basketball.

However, Oregon is not particularly reliant on three-pointers, ranking 199th in three-point rate.

In a matchup that should trend toward interior scoring for the Ducks, I want N'Faly Dante on my side. Oregon's star center ranks 50th on EvanMiya's Bayesian Performance Rating (BPR), a tool used to measure a player's overall value. South Carolina does not have a player who cracks the top 100 in BPR.

Given that Dante will be the most important player on the floor this Thursday, South Carolina's stellar three-point D might not grant them the advantage they are used to.

We need to touch on South Carolina's tortoise-slow pace. The Gamecocks play at the 10th-slowest tempo in college basketball. The Ducks have a great opportunity to outrun this team, especially when the turnover battle looks to be in their favor.

Beyond Dante, this Oregon team features four other players who average double-digit points. South Carolina has just three players on their roster who average double-digits.

Look for the Ducks to feed the ball to Dante and take advantage of the pace and turnover discrepancy.

Our Austin Swaim considers South Carolina one of the most overrated teams in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. He and I are both finding reasons to side with an Oregon upset victory, so I'll take the points in what should be one of the more exciting games this Thursday.

Oregon vs. South Carolina Prop Bet

N'Faly Dante Over 14.5 Points (-125)

We're not done talking about N'Faly Dante.

After undergoing knee surgery earlier this season, Dante has been a huge factor in securing the Ducks an NCAA Tournament berth. He's averaging 16.2 points per game and has exceeded 14.5 points in 14 out of 20 games.

But if we remove a pair of games where Dante faced an injury-management minutes restriction, he is averaging 17.1 points and has surpassed 14.5 points in 14 out of 18 of his games.

He's the clear go-to guy in big-game situations. During Oregon's Pac-12 Tournament run, Dante averaged 20.3 points through three games and was eventually named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

It helps that South Carolina, in part, hangs its hat on an awesome three-point defense. Dante has yet to attempt a three-pointer in his college career and should be able to take advantage of the paint in this one.

Oregon's success hinges on a big Dante performance. I'm happy to side with both.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.