Georgia-Florida Moves to Atlanta: Betting Preview & Pick

It is Georgia, it is Florida, it is a big one here, man. Now, here's question number one. I'm used to this game being played in Jacksonville, but maybe that's just me misremembering things a little bit here, Dave. Am I right? I see this game, it says it's being played at Georgia. I understand that the Jacksonville Jaguars maybe need their stadium, but it says it's being played... You know, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Isn't it supposed to be the large, the world's largest outdoor cocktail party? Like, what's the, that seems hard to do with a dome. Key word is outdoor. Yes, it's a two-year sabbatical because the Jags are redoing their stadium. People don't even know that even though the Jags are still playing games there, it's half capacity. So the Jags are playing in a stadium that's 40,000 instead of 80,000 as they redo their billion-dollar stadium. Two games in London, as you've seen. So Jacksonville can get away with that and only play a couple of home games. Florida and Georgia elected that it wouldn't be fair to their alumni base to play in a half-capacity stadium, so they're moving it for They did this back in the early 90s when the Jags got their team and they needed to rebuild the old Gator Bowl to make it NFL ready. And they played one game in Athens and one game in Gainesville and people said it was the greatest thing in the world. And then they went back to Jacksonville. So I would have done the same thing. I would have gone back to Athens and back to Gainesville and let the home bases enjoy the games. Because as a student, I would have loved to have gone to Athens. I had five games in Jacksonville. They're going Mercedes-Benz this year, and they're going to Tampa and Raymond James next year. So they are playing it in neutral sites, so to speak, in states that are close to you. So this is in Georgia's backyard, but it's Atlanta. Atlanta is still different than Athens, and next year will be in Tampa, which is different than Gainesville. We're talking an hour and a half here or there. But they are going away for two years so they can redo this stadium in Jacksonville and get another Super Bowl or whatever. The type of thing, though, that... Does impact the point spread, I would say, a little bit, right? Like, if this was in Jacksonville like normal, you call it a neutral field. Or maybe not. I mean, so give me your look here. I mean, we got a double-digit number, you know, in a big spot. To answer the first question, it's a 50-50 split. So the tickets are 50-50, and it's one of those fascinating things. You walk into Jacksonville, and it's literally red on one side, blue on the other, and they flip every year. This is in Atlanta, so if Florida fans decide they don't want to drive the three hours, those tickets get put back on the market. They'll be gobbled up by Georgia fans because it's closer and vice versa next year. So you could say Georgia has a little bit of a home field advantage, no different than playing the SEC championship game there. That said, full transparency, Kevin, I was not going to play this game. I am tired of trying to predict what Florida is going to do every single week. I am beyond stunned that Georgia lost that game versus Auburn last week. We're going to look back at the end of this year and say, how the hell did they lose at home to Auburn? That said, this number kept climbing. It was 10, then it was 10 and a half, then it was 11. And all of a sudden, it's Thursday afternoon and I have a 12 and a half up there. And I said, you know, 12 and a half is a big number. And it's going to go the other way. You're going to get the buyback, which you have. It's down in the 11 and a half this morning. I grabbed it at 12 and a half and here's why. And again, I wasn't going to play this game. Buster Faulkner, the Florida OC, which we've talked about, has revolutionized Florida's offense. They've played some of the best offensive games in their school's history as a team that had Tim Tebow and company and had Spurrier for a decade. Buster Faulkner coached with Kirby Smith at Georgia. He then went to Georgia Tech, where they played every single year. And I'm going to give you some numbers on Buster Faulkner. With Georgia Tech's offense, not Florida's offense, over 24 points per game, 400 yards per game. With Georgia Tech, he now has an offense at Florida that's ninth in points and 21st in yards. And here's the number that spoke to me. Those three Georgia Tech games versus Georgia, the Yellow Jackets lost by a combined 17 points, covered all three games, gave Georgia a scare all three years they didn't need because they were already going to the SEC championship game. For those that don't know, the Georgia-Georgia Tech game is the last game of the season before the SEC title game. So Georgia has the SEC wrapped up by then. Have the playoffs in their sights, and Georgia Tech gave them a scare all three years. That's what Buster Faulkner has done at Georgia Tech. Now this game is in the swamp with, well, sorry, this game is in Mercedes-Benz, and he has the Florida offense. And John Summerall, new to Florida. 30-11 against the spread in his career as a road dog, coaching Tulane, coaching in Troy, other places, enjoys this spot as a road dog. And it's not a road dog, but it is on the road. So I'm going to take the 12.5 and a half and hope the right Florida team shows up because Georgia, who I still think is the best team in the country, still showed me some issues sloppy with the ball against Auburn two weeks ago.