VW'S CFB BOWL BANK BUILDING LINE MISTAKE
- Handicapper
- Vegas Writer
- League
- NCAAF
- Competition
- Tulane vs Florida
- Time
- 12/20/2024 03:37 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Florida -10 (-105)
(BetOnline)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- You won’t find a more resilient group in college football this season than the Florida Gators. To put it simply, you can’t say the same about Tulane.
Florida faced what could legitimately be considered the toughest single-season schedule in the history of college football, facing eight ranked opponents throughout the season. Things started rough in Gainesville, as the Gators endured a 41-17 season-opening shellacking against Miami (FL) and a 33-20 loss at home to Texas A&M. Billy Napier was on the hot seat, and with the schedule Florida had ahead of them, the presumption was that he was as good as fired.
How did they respond? They covered in eight of their last nine games, that’s how. They beat top-10 Ole Miss and ranked LSU, and took a Tennessee team that’s in the College Football Playoff to overtime. They’ve been among the most consistent cash cows in ALL OF SPORTS since late September and the emergence of freshman QB DJ Lagway is the primary reason why.
Lagway will be a surefire Heisman contender next year but he didn’t see extended action for much of the season until senior starter Graham Mertz was ruled out for the season. He didn’t start to come into his own until the win at LSU, but he threw 6 touchdown passes to just two interceptions across Florida’s last four games and the Gators covered in three of them.
On Tulane’s end, I’m disgusted. A month ago, the Green Wave was 9-2 and fully in the conversation for the Group of Five playoff spot. They lost their last two games straight up, as a 14-point favorite against Memphis and as a 4-point favorite against an Army team that looked rattled against Navy the following week.
Now Tulane takes the field without its starting quarterback, who is in the portal, and faces a geared-up Gators team that will look to end this season with a statement win for not just themselves, but also Napier.
