Michigan Wolverines vs Florida Gators Predictions, Picks, Odds, and NCAA Football Week One Betting Preview – September 2, 2017

Michigan vs. Florida NCAA Football Preview

Where: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX

When: Saturday, September 2, 2017, 3:30 PM ET

Line: Michigan Wolverines (-5.5) vs. Florida Gators (+5.5), total 45.0 – view all 2017 NCAA Football lines

TV Broadcast: ABC

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Betting on the Michigan Wolverines (-5.5)

Michigan has taken a massive hit this offseason in terms of losses on both sides of the ball. On offense, their top skill position players, particularly at receiver, are all gone. Meanwhile, they also need to replace three starters along the offensive line. Things are worse on defense, where they lost 10 starters, including studs Jabrill Peppers, Taco Charlton, and Jourdan Lewis.

On the bright side, though, head coach Jim Harbaugh still has two experienced senior quarterbacks to turn to in Wilton Speight and John O’Korn. Speight, who is the favorite to start against Florida, threw for more than 2,500 yards with 18 touchdowns and a 61.9 percent completion rate as the starter last season.

The other bit of good news for the Wolverines is that they will be up against a Florida team that will have to deal with 10 suspensions, which include top receiver Antonio Callaway and top running back Jordan Scarlett. The Gators will also be starting a redshirt freshman at quarterback.

That lack of reliable production from Florida offense should be good news for the Wolverines defense, which is a bit inexperienced but does still boast a lot of talent.

Betting on the Florida Gators (+5.5)

Florida head coach Jim McElwain has a huge headache ahead of Week 1 with the mounting suspensions he has to deal with. The number is now up to 10 following the indefinite suspensions of Scarlett and receiver Rick Wells.

The Gators were awful on offense last season, as they averaged just 24 points per game (107th in the nation). All those suspensions on the offensive side of the ball will not do their newly-named starting quarterback, Feleipe Franks, any favors whatsoever. Franks, a redshirt freshman, won the job over last year’s starter, Luke Del Rio, and Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire.

As was the case for most of last season, the Florida defense will have to come up huge to keep the Gators within striking distance. That terrific unit finished 6th in the country in scoring defense (16.8 points per game) and 5th in total defense (293 yards per game) last season.

That outstanding defense took a massive hit in the secondary with the departures of their two top corners, Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson. But with all the uncertainty in the Michigan passing game, Florida’s top weakness might not be exposed quite as much.

Writer’s Prediction

Michigan (-5.5) makes the most of its opportunities against shorthanded Florida as the Wolverines win, 21-14. Also, look for the total to go a good way UNDER 45.0 in what should be a defense-heavy game.

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