College Football – Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators is the Game This Weekend!
The Georgia Bulldogs have an outside shot at winning the SEC and returning to the BCS Championship game. They haven’t been there in a while. The Florida Gators were just there two years ago. They also have a shot at returning to the BCS Championship game.
Both teams stumbled along the way to this SEC Battle of the Titans! The Georgia Bulldogs were thoroughly embarrassed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at home. As bad as that loss was for Georgia, Florida’s loss to the Ole Miss Rebels was even worse.
I mean, at least the Bulldogs were facing a top five team when they lost. The Gators were facing one of the doormats in the SEC and they were facing that doormat in the Swamp. The Gators had no business losing that game.
They might have no business losing this game either, but before we get into some hard core analyzing we need to take a look at the NCAAF sports betting line and a couple of betting trends.
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators
Game-day: 11/01/2008
Kick-off: 3:30 pm est.
Against the Spread: Georgia Bulldogs + 6 at home
Trends:
The Florida Gators are 6 and 1 against the spread in their last 7 games against a rival from the SEC Conference.
The Georgia Bulldogs are 7 and 2 against the spread versus a team with a winning record.
Analysis: Even though the Bulldogs are listed as the “home” team in this game, this game will be played at a neutral site. Hence, the favoritism showed to the Florida Gators. The against the spread line has already moved half a point in the Gators’ favor. They started out as 5.5 point spread favorites. Now, the Gators are 6 point favorites. Usually, I would be all over the Bulldogs, but both teams have been playing so strangely this season that this game deserves further analysis.
Bulldogs’ offense vs. Gators’ defense: The Georgia Bulldogs have one of the best quarterback/running back combos in college football betting right now with quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno. This Georgia team also has two excellent wide receivers. They can score with anybody they face. Florida is going to have a tough time keeping Georgia out of the end zone as the Bulldogs know exactly what they did wrong in their loss to Alabama. They are a determined, tough bunch, that should improve as the year goes on. That’s what this Georgia team did last season. I see them doing the same this season.
Gators’ offense vs. Bulldogs’ defense: The Gators have the best offense in college football right now with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow leading the way. They are as creative as any team in college football and Percy Harvin, their terrific wide receiver, is starting to really make his presence felt. The Bulldogs will have trouble stopping the Gators from getting into the end zone because, uncharacteristically, this Georgia defense just isn’t as good this season as it has been in years past.
Final Analysis: Most online sportsbooks aren’t offering a wager on the total in this game. Not yet, anyhow. If they do, then the over is not a given. So, I’m not touching it. I do believe that both the Gators and Bulldogs have a chance to score a lot of points, but I also believe that the defenses might come to play just because the game is on a neutral site and both Tebow and Stafford might be hesitant to air it out against each team’s defense.
I suspect that the game plan from Coach Richt for the Bulldogs and Coach Meyer for the Gators will be more conservative than usual. They won’t want to allow the opposing team’s quarterback to get onto the field. To me, that plays into the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs who were absolutely terrific last Saturday against the LSU Tigers.
Florida is a tougher team than LSU, but Georgia is starting to rev it up. They got really, really good at this point in the season last year. They could be doing the same thing this year.
NCAA-F Week 10 Prediction:
Georgia might not win this game straight-up but the 6 points are just too many to give up. I have to take the Georgia Bulldogs at + 6 against the spread versus the Florida Gators.
