Florida Gators vs. Hawaii Warriors; Betting Line, Florida -34 ½ (total 67 ½); Television ESPN-GP/Raycom; Kickoff 12:30 PM ET; Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.The Hawaii Warriors, a college football team whom crashed the BCS party in 2007 with an undefeated regular season record and a Heisman trophy finalist in quarterback Colt Brennan, begin the 2008 campaign today without their high-octane offense, that star quarterback or their coach. Colt Brennan has moved on to the NFL and coach June Jones has taken his high-powered offense to SMU. So today the Warriors begin a new era, the Greg McMackin era, when the team lines up against the SEC member Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, otherwise known as “The Swamp” in Gainesville, Fla.
Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com aren’t giving McMackin and his Warriors much of a chance in Saturday’s opener. In fact they expect the Gators to treat Hawaii like any other cup-cake from a non-BCS conference. Hawaii is expected to take a good beating, collect a fat paycheck and fly back to the islands. That’s why the Gators are favored by a -34 ½ point chalk with a 67 ½ point total. Don’t look for any money-line odds for this game. There aren’t any.
The Warriors (0-0) are coming off a 12-1 campaign that saw them participate in the school’s first Bowl Championship Series game against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Hawaii finished the regular season as the nation’s only undefeated team before suffering a 41-10 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, also of the SEC.
The Gators (0-0) completed the 2007 season with a 9-4 record culminating in a 41-35 loss to Michigan in the Capital One Bowl. Quarterback Tim Tebow, who operates coach Urban Meyer’s power spread offense, is the reining Heisman Trophy winner.
The Gators offense returns eight starters after returning six in 2007. Returning to the offense are WR Percy Harvin, WR Louis Murphy, TE Cornelius Ingam, OL Jason Watkins, OL Jim Tartt, OL Maurkice Pouncey, QB Tim Tebow, RB Kestahn Moore. Departing are WR Andre Caldwell, C Drew Miller, RT Carlton Medder. May it be noted that speedster Harvin will sit out the game with Hawaii due to injury.
This is the first ever meeting between Florida and Hawaii.
The Pick: Our advice is to leave this game alone but if you must, take the Warriors +34 ½ and hope Urban Meyer calls off his reptiles before it gets that bad.
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