2008 Florida Gators Betting Odds and Schedule

The last game the Florida Gators football team played was a 41-35 losing effort to the Michigan Wolverines for the Capital One Bowl in Orlando as 10.5 point favorites in college football betting odds. Not only did Florida disappoint many alumni and the Gator faithful but the betting public who pounded the Gators with the -10 point line. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow finished that game with a broken bone in his non throwing arm, went 17-for-33 with 3 touchdowns and ran for 57 yards and a touchdown. However, the loss put Florida 2-4 for the past ten years against Big Ten conference teams in bowl games.

Last year, the Florida Gators went 9-4 straight up and 8-4 against the spread in college football odds and 9-3 in over/unders. The Gators averaged 264.3 passing yards and 197.7 rushing yards per game while allowing opponents 249 passing and 99.3 rushing yards per game. This is a new season though and Gators Head Coach Urban Meyer believes his offensive team is even stronger than last year, so look out. Last year, Florida led the SEC in scoring with 42.5 points per game. If you’re looking for early college football odds on the Florida Gators to win the BCS National title, then visit Sportsbook.com who have the Gators at +600 odds to win the BCS Championship and +175 to win the SEC Championship. Vegas odds to win the 2009 BCS National Game have the Florida Gators at 5/1.

2008 Florida Gators Offense

Percy Harvin is still recuperating from offseason heel surgery but is way ahead of schedule and looks to join Tebow in the high powered Florida Gators offense this year. Someone wanting to play with Tebow and Harvin in the backfield is Emmanuel Moody, a transfer from USC and the 2006 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. One problem though, Moody has butterfingers and Coach Meyer can’t stand butterfingers.

"If he's not very good with ball security, then he won't play tailback at Florida," Meyer said to the Gainesville Sun. "He's got talent, but there's no chance you'll see him play regardless of whatever dot.com says and all the e-mail I'll get and everything else. He will not play football if there's a chance it's falling on the ground."

Moody will be working with the new Florida running backs coach Kenny Carter, who spent that last four years in the same role at Vanderbilt. Besides training Moody, Carter will have a talented offensive squad behind Kestahn Morre (580 rushing yards), Tebow (895) and Harvin (764).

The plan for coach Meyer this 2008 season is to get the ball out of Tebow’s hands a bit more than last year and have the powerful backs / receivers taking down most of the yards. Joining Pervin in the slots will be senior Louis Murphy and the always dangerous tight end Cornelius Ingram.

The offensive line will be returning with only 3 starters including left tackle Phil Trautwein who was out last season with an injury but at a combined average of 6’5 and 305 lbs., this could be one of the best offensive lines in the SEC.

2008 Florida Gators Defense

The defense on the other hand will be returning 8 starters which should improve the 25.5 points per game they gave up last year. Defensive ends Jermaine Cunningham, Carlos Dunlap and linebackers Brandon Spikes with Dustin Doe are expected to have another monster year.

The secondary showed its weakness in the Capital One Bowl but sophomore corner Joe Haden and junior Dorian Monroe now have experience and look to tighten down the safety spots with juniors Major Wright and Dorian Munroe.

2008 Florida Gators Prediction

No matter how you look at the SEC, the top dogs are the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs. Florida seems to have the easier college football betting schedule with LSU in the swamp and avoiding Auburn but they will definitely be tested by Georgia. If Florida can stay strong the whole season and hold the SEC trophy, then you might be looking at another National Title in Florida as well.

2008 Florida Gators Schedule