Florida basketball: Betting lines and predictions for Gators vs Vanderbilt
By Will Thomas
![Florida Gators guard Myreon Jones (0) drives to the basket while under pressure. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. The score was tied 35-35 at the half. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F7bbd6046d60ceda71d0aa5f36e108f09f36e19f55d5713339fa2c66977ddcdac.jpg "Florida Gators guard Myreon Jones (0) drives to the basket while under pressure. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. The score was tied 35-35 at the half. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau")
Florida basketball is entering its final three games of the year, and they travel to Nashville tonight to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.
In the first meeting between these teams, Vandy came to Gainesville and beat the Gators by a score of 88-80. Florida just couldn’t come up with a stop on defense when they needed it, and they suffered a loss that was detrimental to their tournament hopes.
Now, the Gators hit the road looking to avenge their loss earlier in the year, and avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Dores.
The books don’t like the Gators’ odds to do so, however, as Florida basketball are road underdogs tonight.
Florida basketball: Steep hill to climb
It’s hard enough to win on the road in college basketball. Add on to that being an underdog against a team that’s on the rise, and you have a tough task ahead of you.
The Gators are +3.5 or +4, depending on which book you look at. To go against Florida even more, 74% of bets at the time I’m writing this are on Vandy to cover. Confidence in the Gators is low.
It’s hard to blame people for taking the Dores here. With Castleton, the Gators were 8.5-point favorites at home and lost the game by 8. Now they’re supposed to go on the road without Colin, and cover +4?
Well, maybe. We’re to the point of the year where Florida has got nothing to lose. They’re desperate for a win of any kind just to get going again. Joe Lunardi has entirely forgotten that we exist, and we’re in 9th place in the SEC.
I am curious to see how this team plays when they have nothing to lose. Maybe they’re more relaxed and shoot the ball better. Or maybe they just check out and play slowly. Only time will tell.
The total for this one is set at 146.5. That seems a little high at first glance, but Florida’s last five games have all gone over, and three of the last five for Vandy.
So, late February with two teams that aren’t making the tournament seems like a recipe for a lot of shots and a good bit of scoring.
My confident play here is the over. And if we’re predicting a lot of points, the general rule is that the short favorite is the play. Sorry Gator fans.
Predictions: Vanderbilt -4, over 146.5.
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