Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers
Saturday, 9/18/10, 3:30 PM EDT, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: Florida -15
Current Betting Line: Florida -14
Opening Total: 48
Current Total: 45.5
Current Moneyline: Florida -550/Tennessee +450
All odds taken from Bookmaker Sportsbook who is offering a 25% signup bonus to all new online sports bettors.
Florida travels to Knoxville to open its SEC slate against rival Tennessee. The Gators come in with a perfect 2-0 record, including a 38-14 win against in-state foe South Florida. Saturday’s game will mark the 40th all-time meeting between the teams, with the Gators holding a 20-19 edge. The team has been dealing with an off-the-field distraction all week, as starting wide receiver Chris Rainey was arrested and charged with aggravated stalking. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio has been doing his best in keeping his unit’s focus by saying, “He is not part of our team right now. That’s really all I have to say on that.” Florida brings winning streaks of 22 regular-season games, 12 road games and 14 regular-season SEC games into the matchup. The squad is 11-7 against the college football point spread versus conference opponents over the last three years.
The Gators have been led by their defense that has eight interceptions through the first two games, which is twice as many as any SEC school. The team tallied 28 points off of turnovers in its last game and has 48 points off turnovers through the first two games of the season. With quarterback Tim Tebow’s departure after three full years behind center, new starter John Brantley has been thrown into the fire. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns against the Bulls and holds a streak of 117 straight passes without being intercepted. The total is 19-9 O/U in the Gators’ games the last three seasons.
Tennessee needs to certainly regroup after falling 48-13 at home to Oregon last week. The Volunteers held a 13-3 lead early in the second quarter, but ultimately allowed 45 unanswered points. “We’re focusing so much on the scoreboard that when things aren’t going our way on the scoreboard, we get frustrated,” head coach Derek Dooley said. The team may trail in the overall series, but leads 11-9 in Knoxville, but have lost the last two such meetings at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee is in the midst of opening up with four straight home games for the first time since 1978, producing a 26-9 record in those contests. It’s also the first time in program history that the squad will home two teams ranked in the national top 10 in consecutive weeks. The Volunteers have been an underdog of 10.5 to 21 points just two times in the past three years, going 1-1 ATS in those contests.
The Volunteers did receive encouraging play from running back Tauren Poole in last week’s blowout loss, gaining 162 yards on 23 carries. The junior has 272 yards and three touchdowns on the season. Tennessee’s offensive line is comprised of five players that all made their starting lineup debuts in the season opener against UT Martin. They enabled the team to rush for an impressive 332 yards in that contest followed up by a respectable 182 yards versus Oregon. Junior quarterback Matt Simms has been under center the past two weeks, completing 29 passes for 332 yards combined.
Bettors will find that the Gators are a worthy 11-3 ATS in their last 14 road games, but the Volunteers are an impressive 7-3 ATS in their last 10 SEC games. We are still looking at this game but have released our 20 Unit Non conference game of the month and it goes Saturday. We are currently on a 14-3 college pick run and will continue the winning on Saturday. Get the best college football picks on the Internet today from the nations #1 sports handicapping service.
