With college football season on the horizon, ESPN Chalk's college football experts -- Phil Steele, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Chris Fallica -- combine to give you betting previews of the top 25 teams, according to the ESPN College Football Rankings. They break down each team's strengths and weaknesses, along with season win total bets and national title odds.
Odds from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Aug. 22.
Florida Gators
National title odds: 60-1 (opened 40-1)
Season win total: 8.5
FPI win total projection: 7.9
Phil Steele
Strengths: The Gators have one of the best offensive lines in the SEC, their defense is always a strength and they have the best set of skill players that they have had in years. They also have my No. 3-rated special teams in the country.
Weaknesses: The only two units that do not rank in my top 25 are
Over/under (8.5): Florida is a very talented team and has a great schedule. Since the LSU game was moved last season, the Gators now get that game at home. They have only three true road games this season and those are at Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. The Gators get Michigan in Week 1, which is when you want to play an inexperienced team, and have beaten Georgia in Jacksonville the past three seasons. They are one of my favorite over plays.
National title odds (60-1): My surprise teams in the magazine are non-top 10 teams that I think can win the national title. Washington was my No. 1 surprise team last year and went from 7-6 to making the playoff. Florida is my No. 1 surprise team this year and should be priced at closer to 15-1, so there is a lot of value here.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
O/U (8.5): While a lot of people are holding out on their opinion of the Gators until Jim McElwain announces his QB, I am willing to trust the head coach with that decision. Whether it be Feleipe Franks or Malik Zaire behind center, there is no doubt they will be an upgrade to the position from what the Gators ended with each of the past two seasons. There is also enough time for the staff to adjust the roster for the opening tilt vs. Michigan after the suspensions McElwain announced in early August.
The advantage of only having to play three true road games is enormous to me. The roster is deep with experience, as players got a chance to step up due to how many injuries they endured last season on both sides of the ball. There are still plenty of restless Gators fans out there, seeing how the boys from Gainesville have had issues putting the ball in the end zone (second to last in SEC with 35 TDs scored last season) -- and McElwain was brought in to improve the team on offense.
All those worries should be put to bed, and expect the Gators to be profoundly better offensively this year. I do expect Florida to return to Atlanta to play in a third straight SEC title game. And I like them to therefore go over 8.5 wins.
Chris Fallica
O/U (8.5): The Gators have only three true road games, but they could lose any of them -- at Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina -- given recent struggles with those teams. And there is also the neutral site games with Michigan and Georgia. The QB situation should be better than last year, whether it's Zaire or Franks who wins the job.
But we have very little sample size from Zaire and even less from Franks. Whomever takes the snaps should have the best group of receivers the Gators have had in awhile. It's a testament to McElwain that this team has reached the SEC title game the past two seasons with the offensive struggles it has had since Will Grier's departure.
But the defense must replace a lot on that side of the ball. This is a fairly divisive team -- some people think the Gators will struggle while some think they are the best team in the East and can challenge for the SEC title. I'd pass here on the total as I can see either 9-3 or 8-4 as the most likely result for the Gators.
Title odds (60-1): Florida has shown the past couple of years that it's a cut below national title winners and past CFP participants Alabama and Florida State. I have a tough time thinking in the span of a season that both Alabama and FSU have regressed that much and Florida has improved to that level to make the Gators a serious national title contender.