Let's take a closer look inside the State of Florida as it pertains to betting lines for the Gators, Knights, Noles, Phins, Jags, and Bucs.
CFB…
Knights -23.5 home vs Temple- UCF has won big this season. Against FBS teams, that have wins of 17, 26, and 22 points. Watch out for the Temple pass defense…they have 20 sacks on the season already…and, Temple ranks third in the country in passing yards allowed by limiting opponents to 149 yards a game. 58% of the bets and 97% of the $$$ is on the Owls. (UCF beat temple 49-7 last year)
Gators host LSU favored by 2.5- Night game @ the Swamp, big time $$ coming in on the Gators here…and a lot of that probably has to do with the blowout loss LSU just suffered at the hands of Tennessee. 40-13 in Baton Rouge. The Gators went toe to toe with UT in Knoxville…so if you’re playing that game, Gators have the upper hand. Florida wins if they run the football early and often.
#4 Clemson @ FSU +3.5- Look at the Noles getting some love from the oddsmakers! You’d probably have to go back several years to find the Noles short of a 4 point underdog against Clemson. Clemson is the 4th ranked team in the country and FSU is trying to avoid 3 straight losses. The Noles sort of reverted back to the team they were a year ago against NC State. Betting splits- Clemson 80% of the bets. FSU 53% of the cash. That usually means the smart guys know something we don’t.
NFL…
Phins +3.5 home vs Vikings- Tua has already been ruled out for this game. Teddy Bridgewater will serve as a backup and Skylar Thompson gets his first true start as a pro. The smart thing to do is to take the home team with a solid roster, catching a field goal+…but…I just saw this defense give up 322 total yards and 5 touchdowns to the Jets so I’m not sure how they stop the Vikings. Hard pass.
Bucs -8.5 on the road @ Pittsburgh- Another spot where the smart thing to do is to take the home underdog who just got blown out. Steelers as home dogs the last 20 years- 17-4-3…but does that really matter with how bad this team is compared to the teams they’ve had the last 20? The Bucs could very easily run up the score if they can figure out how to do such things.
Jags +2.5 @ Indy- The Texans own the Jags and the Jags own Indy…these are the ways of the wacky NFC South. I feel like there’s only 1 bet to make here and its on the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, here’s the weird part. The road team has only won once in this rivalry in the last 17 meetings. Odd stuff. *Update on Jonathan Taylor: Taylor (ankle) did some light jogging during Wednesday's practice
Photo: Getty Images