Take Tennessee To Bash Florida

Florida vs. Tennessee, 5:00 ET

The calendar has turned to January and that means we turn our attention from the end of a college football season to the ongoing college basketball season. This is usually around the time that people start paying attention to the games. Lucky for you, I've been paying attention since the first day of the season and I've been pretty successful this season at betting on games. I'm looking for that success to carry over into this game between Florida and Tennessee.

The Florida Gators are off to a nice start for the season but have struggled a bit in the SEC competitions they've had so far. On the season they are 11-5, but just 1-2 against SEC opponents. For the year, they've faced a pretty soft schedule when it comes to their victories. Their best win to this point is either against Florida State or Michigan. Neither of those teams are all that impressive if we are being honest with ourselves. Their losses this season have come against Virginia (a three-point loss), Baylor (a four-point loss), on the road against Wake Forest (an 11-point loss), a home loss to Kentucky but two points, and a road loss to Ole Miss by 12 points. Can we draw any conclusions from these losses? Well, the two road games they've had - true road games, not neutral site games - they've lost by double digits. Offensively they have been racking up points in both wins and losses. Lately, the offense has clicked, but they really can't stop anyone on defense. Florida has scored 85 or more points in their past six games. They've also had four different leading scorers in that span, highlighting their versatility and ability to get people involved. They have five players that average double-digits in scoring this season. Tennessee isn't a bad defensive team, but they certainly have their work cut out for them.

March Madness is quickly approaching and we are building our bankroll for it. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Speaking of Tennessee, how has their season gone? They are currently sitting at 12-4 with a 2-1 conference record and they are ranked sixth in the nation. If we are looking at their wins this season, there are at least a few that are significant and worth highlighting. They took down Wisconsin on the road, beat Syracuse on a neutral court, took Illinois down by seven, and romped Ole Miss by 26 in Tennessee. The losses for the team have, for the most part, been explainable as well. They lost on back-to-back nights in a tournament to Purdue and Kansas, two of the best teams in the country. They lost to Purdue by four and Kansas by nine. Then they lost at North Carolina by eight points, again, another great team. Their most recent loss was against Mississippi State, and they remained competitive, losing by five in the road contest. Their offense is a bit less reliable as they've only hit 80 points in three of their past seven games. Their defense has held opponents to 70 or fewer points in five of their past seven games, but they've allowed 77 and 79 in their last two games. All of this is to say that they are a bit harder to predict in terms of their production.

I don't think this will be much of a struggle for the Volunteers to win this game. When they win, they win convincingly in most games. When they lose they play a pretty tight game as well. Florida has been good, but not very good on the road. They will look to push the pace but I'm not sure their offense will be that effective today. I'll take Tennessee at home to cover -9.5 in this game and coast to a victory.

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