Florida Gators Favored By 6 Over Alabama For Shot At BCS Title

Sports News - December 2nd, 2009 - Written by John

Throw in a SEC Title, a trip to the National Championship and Heisman trophy implications into a pot, stir, and you have Saturday’s mega showdown between the top ranked Florida Gators and the second ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at the Georgia Dome.

Both teams have been on a collision course since September and will battle it out in an SEC title rematch from last year, when Florida downed the Tide 31-20 in a classic.

Currently, College Football Betting Lines have Florida a favorite by 5 1/2 points with the O/U sitting at 41 1/2, according to BetUS. The Gators are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite of 3 1/2-10 and are 4-0 ATS in their last four neutral site games as a favorite. The under is 8-1 in Gators last nine conference games.

Florida comes to Atlanta riding a 22-game win streak after throttling arch rival Florida State 37-10 in what was Tim Tebow’s last game in a Gator uniform at the Swamp. Having clinched the SEC East crown weeks ago, Florida has had to overcome the distractions and potential complacency that comes with being the top ranked team in the country. Not looking ahead to this monstrous showdown with Alabama has been difficult, but now they can look forward to the challenge.

"To think that we clinched a berth in this four weeks ago and still took care of business when everybody kept talking about the SEC championship game," Florida Coach Urban Meyer said to ESPN. "Just great admiration for our guys to stay focused."

Meyer perhaps spoke too soon in lieu of star defensive end Carlos Dunlap’s DUI arrest early Tuesday morning. According to reports, Dunlap fell asleep at the wheel in front of a traffic light. He was arrested and Meyer suspended him indefinitely Tuesday afternoon, meaning the top ranked Gators will be without their stand out player for their biggest game of the season.

Dunlap, who was the Defensive MVP in last year’s national championship game, is tied for the team lead in sacks this year with seven. According to ESPN’s Mel Kiper lists him as a top five NFL draft prospect.

On the other side of the ball Alabama has overcome a difficult schedule to remain undefeated entering this contest. Close games against Tennessee, in which they blocked a field goal as time expired, and a stiff test against Auburn in the iron bowl have revealed the character of this 2009 Crimson Tide team says coach Saban.

“This team is going to have an opportunity again to do something that last year's team didn't get done,” said Saban. “I'm extremely proud of what we've been able to accomplish this year.”

Heisman trophy candidate Mark Ingram bruised a hip during the Auburn game, but coach Saban expects him to be just fine on Saturday. Ingram is currently listed in fourth place on ESPN’s Heisman ranker entering this week behind Texas’ Colt McCoy, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Tebow.

Prior to his 30-yard, zero-touchdown performance in the Auburn game, Ingram was considered the favorite to win the coveted award. However, a big performance against the no. 1-scoring defense in the country would go a long way in determining who is holding the trophy in December.

Ingram, a sophomore, could potentially be the third in a row of sophomores to win the award following Tebow, and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford. Prior to this there had never been a freshman or sophomore to win the award.

The Tide look to get even with the Gators from last years loss in which they were dominated in the fourth quarter where Florida scored 14 unanswered points. Both teams bring the nation’s first- and second-ranked defenses to the field.