They call it the world’s largest cocktail party. Well, they used to anyway. Some folks protested that name and they have toned it down a bit, the name, not the party. The annual meeting between the Universities of Georgia and Florida football teams has to take place on neutral ground because of the intensity of the rivalry and the geography involved. It’s a long drive between Athens, Georgia and Gainesville, Florida, so they play the game at Everbank Field in downtown Jacksonville, Florida the home of the NFL Jaguars.
The State of Florida has some great football. What other state can boast three great University programs and three professional football franchises all within its borders? Count ‘em, the Seminoles at Florida State in Tallahassee, the Gators at the University of Florida at Gainesville and the Hurricanes down at the University of Miami. Then we have the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dolphins in Miami.
Florida State has been taking sportsbooks to the cleaners all season. After the departure of EJ Manuel to the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the NFL Draft, who would have thought that Jimbo Fisher and his staff would come up with another gem at quarterback in the form of Jameis Winston and be undefeated going into their annual meeting with the Hurricanes?
But they did and they are and bettors across the country have been jumping on the Seminole bandwagon since game two. While the ‘Noles are 7-0 SU, they are 5-2 ATS. Miami is also 7-0 SU but only 4-3 ATS.
The Saturday night matchup down in Miami was billed as one of the top games of the year and rightly so. Florida State went into the contest ranked as the number three team in the country with Miami not far behind at number 7. Both teams undefeated… both wanting to stay that way.
But handicappers seemed to be of the universal opinion that the Hurricanes could not stand up to the Seminoles and gave them an incredible 22 points. Even so, most ‘experts’ still expected the ‘Noles to cover.
The Georgia-Florida contest figured to be a much closer deal. Oddsmakers were giving the Gators 3 to 3.5 points before the game. Injury issues on both sides made this one very difficult to figure. However, no matter the outcome, the fans in attendance can say that they were there for one of the biggest NCAA football games of the year.
