Massachusetts Minutemen Vs Florida Gators College Football Expert Picks

Posted by Joe Solari on Friday,September 2, 2016 6:43, EDT in

College Football News, Online Betting Tips, Picks & Previews

The inaugural 2016 college football season is here, and the Florida Gators and the Massachusetts Minutemen will be treating us to one of the watchable games of the weekend, as they go against each other at the Swamp on Saturday. To no surprise, the No. 25 Gators have been installed as heavy NCAA Football betting favorites in a game that is expected to be all Florida from start to finish. Can the Minutemen keep things close? Find out as we take you through a brief online sportsbook preview of this clash.

Minutemen Vs Gators College Football Expert Picks

When: Saturday, September 3, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: NCAA Live
NCAAF Lines: Florida Gators (-37), OVER/UNDER 50

Why Bet on Massachusetts

In their first season as an independent school after leaving the MAC conference, UM is hoping to do better than it did in its 3-9 season last year. To do so, the Massachusetts Minutemen will be hoping that highly-touted Virginia Tech transfer Andrew Ford will offer the much-needed leadership in UM’s offense, supported by standout running back Marquis Young—he of the much-talked about 240 rushing yards and three touchdowns vs. Buffalo last season—and the receiving duo of Bernard Williams and Jalen Williams. The defense will be breaking into several new players, so it’s hard to predict how it will match up to Florida, meaning much of what will happen here will depend on how solid the Gators offense figures out here.

Why Bet on Florida

QB Luke Del Rio, son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, has been chosen as Florida’s starter in this game after beating his competition in training, and the hope is that he will be offering reliable arms and legs in this game. Del Rio will be getting support from a decently experienced group that includes RB Jordan Scarlett and WRs Antonio Calloway and Brandon, along with a strong defensive unit. As a concern, though, the Florida Gators have a number of suspensions for Week 1, something that could easily limit their overall output in this game, especially in regards to covering the game’s bloated point spread.

Expert NCAA Football Predictions and Picks

UMass has plenty of questions in defense, but the offense is good enough to put up a decent number of points on the board against Florida’s defense that will be missing some of its suspended starters. Even so, Florida should still be good for a solid double-digit win, even if it won’t probably be enough to cover the spread. Mind you, the Gators started the 2015 campaign strongly, going 10-1 SU in their first 11 games, but they went just 0-4 ATS in their four non-SEC games, so you should be forewarned if you are thinking of putting your money on Florida on this game’s ATS lines.