Florida-Georgia: Betting odds, picks for Week 9 (October 28, 2017)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators (3-3, 3-2 SEC) play the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 SEC) on Saturday for their annual neutral-site rivalry game at EverBank Field. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on CBS.

The Gators are looking to keep their slim hopes to win the SEC East alive, while the Bulldogs are trying to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race.

Find full odds and our picks on the game below.

Florida-Georgia betting odds

Florida is a 13.5-point underdog, according to MyBookie. The over/under is 43.5 points.

Florida-Georgia betting picks

Zach Abolverdi: Georgia 24, Florida 13

In a season where so much has gone wrong for the Gators, they seemingly need everything to go right for them Saturday. However, their best shot may not be enough to beat the Bulldogs.

Jordan McPherson: Georgia 30, Florida 13

Let’s just call it like it is: Georgia is the better team that will be playing in Jacksonville on Saturday. There’s virtually no debate with that.

The Gators are confident and feel like they can pull off the upset. I’m not saying that’s impossible, but it will take a lot going in Florida’s favor for that to happen.

Ryan Young: Georgia 31, Florida 10

Strange things can happen in rivalry games, especially this one. That said, every way I look at this matchup, I come to the same conclusion. Georgia is just too good, too consistent, too stacked, and Florida simply has too many issues.

Florida-Georgia preview

Stopping the run: Florida’s best bet to pull off the upset against Georgia would be by stopping the Bulldogs’ senior running back duo of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. That’s probably going to be easier said than done, though. Chubb and Michel are the only running backs from the same school ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in rushing yards per game. Chubb ranks third (98.29 yards/game), while Michel is eighth (82 yards/game).

Two programs heading in different directions: In its second year under coach Kirby Smart, Georgia has gone from an 8-5 team that had potential to the clear SEC East front-runner and a contender to make the College Football Playoff. Florida, the two-time defending SEC East champ, is in a state of regression in Year 3 under Jim McElwain.

Embracing the underdog role? Florida players expressed their confidence this week that they can pull off the upset despite being the heavy underdogs. However, the Gators are 2-6 under McElwain when playing as the lesser-ranked team or as an unranked team against a ranked team.