Florida football might have to wait until 2021 to beat Georgia football.
Florida football vs. Georgia football down in Jacksonville this fall could be an all-timer.
The Florida Gators’ rivalry with the Georgia Bulldogs is one of the best rivalries in all of college football. It is one of the few remaining neutral-site affairs left in major college football. Every year, the Gators and the Dawgs meet along the Banks of the St. Johns River and duke it out for divisional supremacy down in Jacksonville. The winner of this game typically wins the SEC East.
According to SportsBetting.ag, Georgia is favored to win the SEC East at -140, while Florida comes in at even odds. In terms of winning the SEC Championship game, Georgia has the second-best odds in the conference at +250, while Florida has the third-best odds at +550. With both their over/under totals set at a surprisingly low seven wins, it infers Georgia wins down in Duval.
Florida vs. Georgia is the most important game in the SEC this season.
Not since the Missouri Tigers won the 2014 SEC East division crown has anybody else won the SEC East besides Florida or Georgia. The Gators won back-to-back SEC East titles under former head coach Jim McElwain from 2015-16. Georgia has rattled off three in a row under current head coach Kirby Smart dating back to 2017. Can Dan Mullen beat the Dawgs for the first time?
Well, as they say, the third time’s the charm, right? This will be Mullen’s third stab at Georgia since taking over the Florida program in 2018. Though the Gators have gone to and won a pair of New Year’s Six bowls under his watch, Mullen might be the best coach in college football to never win his division before. He never did so in nine years leading the Mississippi State Bulldogs either.
When looking at their two 10-game, conference-only schedules, you’ll surely pick up on several things. Georgia’s regular-season slate is incredibly front-loaded with tough home games vs. Auburn and Tennessee, as well as a brutal road game vs. Alabama before they take on the Gators on Nov. 7 down in Jacksonville. Georgia can afford to drop one of those games if it beats Florida.
With Florida, the middle of the Gators’ schedule gets a little dicey. They have a road date at Texas A&M followed by a home game vs. LSU in back-to-back weeks. While they should have no problem putting away a rebuilding Missouri team, next up for them will be Georgia. Florida also ends the year with back-to-back games against SEC East foes Kentucky and Tennessee.
Though Florida had the easier regular-season schedule before we went to the 10-game, SEC-only format, Georgia may now have a slight leg up because the Dawgs didn’t pick up a certain top-25 team to play on the road like the Gators did with Texas A&M. That game in College Station may inevitably tip the scales towards Georgia winning the SEC East for the fourth year in a row.
Ultimately, it will be either Florida or Georgia representing the SEC East in the conference title bout. This is because Kentucky and Tennessee’s schedules are too brutal for them to overcome and do any better than 7-3 by any stretch of the imagination. For that reason, 8-2 wins the SEC East, assuming that eighth win will be over their arch-rival team down in Jacksonville.
Florida’s slightly tougher 10-game schedule may lead to the Gators not winning in Jacksonville.
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