Florida Will Chomp Down On Bulldogs Necks

Florida vs. Georgia, 7:00 ET

It was a 2-0 day on the hardwood for me yesterday. I almost took the bait on the over, but luckily it was just a lean and not a play. It was in the Houston vs. Texas Tech game, the rematch of one of Houston's few losses this season. In the first won, the teams went to overtime and combined to score quite a few points. I laid out the reasoning for everyone in my post, so I won't harp on it here, but I thought the game would go over. Either way, I'm happy to take the victory and look to get a good streak going here as Florida takes on Georgia.

Florida is one of the best teams in the country, and if we are being honest, I didn't give them enough respect when I wrote about them earlier in the season. Perhaps I fell into the trap of loving teams with a higher ranking, or maybe I just messed up in not paying close enough attention to what they are doing, but there is no avoiding it now: the Gators are good. Florida comes into tonight's game with a strong 24-3 record, and all three losses have been in conference play. They started the season 13-0 beating mostly mid-tier teams (part of the reason I didn't think they were quite as good as they actually are). Their first loss of the year was on the road against Kentucky and that is when I thought they were going to start falling a bit. Instead they rebounded the next game, hosting Tennessee and winning by 30 points. It wasn't quite smooth sailing from there as they dropped a home game to Missouri, probably the most surprising loss on the schedule. Later, Tennessee got their revenge which I was correct in my assessment on that one. Still, over their last five games they've beaten Auburn and Mississippi State, both on the road. This team is very good and in all likelihood will run their win streak to 7 straight after tonight.

Georgia Bulldogs big Asa Newell drives to the hoop on the South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC college basketball game at Stegeman Coliseum. (Photo credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)

Georgia is hosting the Gators tonight, and while they don't have a rank, and likely won't be in consideration for an NCAA Championship run, they are a decent enough team. They are 16-11, but they have been very bad against their SEC opponents. Their current record is 4-10 and they have lost four straight, and nine of their last 11 games. This is a tough stretch of basketball for them as this will be the fifth straight game against a ranked opponent, but that's what the SEC is this season. They did face Florida earlier in the season and the result wasn't pretty. In that game, the Bulldogs were on the road and left Florida after losing by 30 points. I bring this one up not to say that it will happen again, because I think this one will be a lot closer, but I think it is important to know that Georgia may have circled this game as one to try and get a little pride back. That's what happened with Tennessee the second time they faced Florida after they were routed in their first matchup.

The thought here has to be if Georgia can actually keep the game close. They have lost three of their past four games by at least 10 points. The only close matchup was against Mississippi State and they lost that by one point. I usually love taking teams that get blown out in the first matchup, and now they are at home. However, Georgia simply isn't Tennessee, and they aren't as good as the Gators. Florida is going to smack 'em up again. Give me the Gators -6.5.