NCAA Football Betting Odds – Tennessee vs. #1 Florida

Game-day: 9/19/2009

Kick-off: 3:30 pm EST

The Tennessee Volunteers finally go down to Gainesville to take on the #1 ranked Florida Gators. I write finally because first year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin started the embers going in the fire pit that is this rivalry on his first day on the job. Kiffin said that the Volunteers were going to beat Florida and sing Rocky Top all night long after doing it. Nice. That’s not motivation, Lane. Then, he accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of breaking recruiting rules.

Actually, I’m not sure if Kiffin’s mouthing off is going to hurt this Tennessee team, but we will get to that in a bit. First, let’s take a look at the NCAA football betting odds for this game.

Tennessee Volunteers +29 ½ -110 O 52 -110

Florida Gators -29 ½ -110 U 52 -110

Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.

• The Tennessee Volunteers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog on the road.
• The Tennessee Volunteers are 2 and 5 against the spread in the last 7 meetings between these two teams in Florida.
• The Florida Gators are 5 and 0 against the spread in their last 5 games at home.
• The Florida Gators are 22 and 6 ATS in their last 28 games overall.
• The Florida Gators are without a doubt the best team in college football right now and they do have plenty of motivation to cover this spread, but this spread is insanely ridiculous.

Bad blood can go both ways. Sometimes, it can motivate a team. Other times, it can hurt a team. This game is still a battle between SEC powerhouses and even though it might be a down year for Tennessee, they are still a traditionally tough SEC team.

Florida will win this game, but Tennessee has a very, very good running game and Coach Lane Kiffin will bring out all the stops in this game to make sure it doesn’t get out of control.

The Kiffins are still master coaches, Lane and his father Monte, and because they are both from the NFL, expect an even keel attitude to come from them this Saturday on the sidelines. They’re going to let Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Coach Urban Meyer to push things so to speak while they sit back and make the necessary adjustments to keep this closer than anybody expects.

I say that Florida wins this game, but they won’t win it by more than four touchdowns. I just don’t see that happening. Tennessee can still play some football and Kiffin has a couple of big running backs that he can throw at that Florida defense.

It won’t be close, but it won’t be a 29 ½ point loss either. Motivation or not, Florida isn’t playing Troy in this game. This is Tennessee.

The bet is on Tennessee to beat the 29 ½ points spread in the sportsbook.