The 2017 college football betting season continues this week with the NCAA pulling out all the stops by offering some mouth watering matchups. Such is this weekend’s contest between the unranked LSU Tigers and No. 21 Florida. The Gators will be playing host this Sunday, which has led US sportsbooks to peg Florida as betting favorites ahead of Week 6’s action. However, the -175 odds on the money line make it clear that the Gators will have their hands full this weekend.
The Gators crawl into this Sunday’s contest sporting a 3-1 record (3-0 in conference play) that ranks them as the best team in the SEC East. After having their Week 2 contest versus Northern Colorado cancelled, Florida was able to take the extra rest and turn it into a 3-game win streak. However, the Gators lone loss of the season has come at home at the hands of No. 11 Michigan. Against an unranked opponent, the best online sportsbooks are still giving their opponent a chance to pull off the upset.
#LSUvsUF … Enough said.
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The unranked Tigers are facing +155 odds on the money line, which is a bit surprising considering they’re unranked. LSU is 3-2 on the season and has posted an 0-1 record in SEC play. Within the West division, the Tigers are ranking a disappointing 5th overall. LSU is coming off disheartening 21-24 loss to Troy. If the Tigers suffer back to back losses, the program might just lose the little confidence they have.
College football betting fans looking to place sportsbook bets on the spread for this match will have to contend with a 3 ½ point prediction. Neither team has fared greatly against the spread this season. LSU is 1-4 against the spread so far in 2017 and the Gators have posted a 1-3 record ATS. The Tigers are currently averaging 27.0 points per outing while Florida is usually putting up around 27.3. That doesn’t provide much insight into the spread but it does make it clear that this will be one tough matchup come Sunday. The payout on the spread is listed at -110 so the best value on this Week 6 game is picking the Tigers straight up.
The totals line is also offering a -110 payout for this contest with the line being set at 44 ½. Against the over/under line this season, Florida has been faring much better than LSU. The Gators are 3-1 against the totals line while the Tigers have posted a measly 1-3 record. LSU is giving up 19.4 defensively in each contest while the Gators are allotting 26.0. With those figures in mind, NCAA betting fans might want to stick to the under.
Obviously the Gators seem like the better betting option at first glance but they’ve gone three weeks without a loss. Considering how many sportsbook bet upsets we saw this past weekend, in both the NFL and in the NCAA, it seems like suffering a loss is inevitable around this time of the year. Will Florida be the next titan to fall?