With the exception of a blip in the AP poll in Week 7, the Florida Gators have been the consensus No. 1 team in the land for most of the season and are currently +120 to take this year’s BCS championship.
The potential next speed bump in the Gators’ road to the national championship game?
The SEC East bottom-dwelling Vanderbilt Commodores.
When Florida plays Vanderbilt, regardless of where the Gators are ranked, you’re going to see a big number hung on them, and if the Gators are the #1 ranked team in the country…well…the sky’s the limit.
Online sportsbooks have this line currently pegged at -35, with a Total of 47.
So what do we do with this pointspread? As of Thursday morning, according to SPORTSBETTING.com, the sports betting public isn’t shying away from laying the big points, as 70% of all the action wagered on the game so far has come in on Florida.
But before betting this one, let’s take a closer look at some numbers.
As you might expect, the Gators have had little trouble beating Vanderbilt on the scoreboard, running up a 14-0 straight up mark vs. them since 1995. But bettors have not been rewarded when backing Florida on the pointspread, as they are only 6-8 ATS over that time period.
Furthermore, while the Gators are 7-0 straight up against the Commodores in their last seven home games, they are a dismal 2-5 ATS at the same time.
Looking at Vanderbilt’s performance as a road team, they’ve been impressive, sporting an 8-3 ATS mark in their last 11 away games.
When listed as underdogs of 9.5-points and up, the Commodores have been a spread bettors’ best friend, struggling at 4-12 straight up, but profiting at a rate of 12-4 ATS.
You might want to think twice before laying the big lumber with the Gators.
LSU at Alabama
The marquee matchup of the week is an all-SEC battle featuring the No. 9 LSU Tigers at the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide are listed as a 7.5-point home fave.
The Top 2 teams in the SEC West have met in Alabama six times since 1997 and LSU has a decided advantage in those games, going 5-1 SU and 4-0-2 ATS.
However, Alabama has thrived in this situation lately, going 6-0 against the spread the last six times they have been favored by 8-points or less.
SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting 63% of all the action is on the #3-ranked Crimson Tide in this one.
This is the “can’t miss” game of the week.
You can check all the NCAA odds
Enjoy the college football action.
