Week 3 of the 2014 college football season is upon us. Here are some of the marquee matchups and the lines for the upcoming weekend of action, courtesy of JustBet Sportsbook. All NCAA football bettors and sports fans will get their fill of quality action this weekend as there are quite a few interesting matchups on tap.

Thursday, September 11th

Houston at #25 BYU (-18.5, 58) 9:00 PM EST ESPN

BYU has certainly impressed thus far, and fresh off a second straight thumping of Texas will look to go 3-0 when they host the Houston Cougars out of the AAC. Houston got in the win column last week with a 47-0 win over Grambling St.

Friday, September 12th

#8 Baylor (-34, 67.5) at Buffalo 8:00 PM EST ESPN

The #8 Baylor Bears have been installed as 34 point favorites against Buffalo out of the MAC. It was made official that Bryce Petty will play, yet last week it didn’t matter as they rolled to a 70-6 victory over Northwestern St with backup Seth Russell. Buffalo is coming off a 47-38 loss to Army last weekend.

Saturday, September 13

West Virginia at Maryland (-3.5, 57) 12:00 PM EST Big Ten Network

West Virginia and Maryland meet up in a somewhat intense rivalry on Saturday. Randy Edsall has given the Mountaineers trouble in years past, yet this year’s WVU squad is talented, and could only add to the Big Ten’s recent struggles.

East Carolina at #17 Virginia Tech (-11.5, 53.5) 12:00 PM EST ESPN

The Virginia Tech Hokies, fresh off their upset of Ohio State, will look to go 3-0 against the talented East Carolina Pirates. East Carolina may have lost last week, but were competitive against South Carolina. Virginia Tech should be on upset alert as East Carolina can most certainly put some points on the board.

UCF at #20 Missouri (-10, 54.5) 12:00 PM EST SEC Network

Central Florida Knights have had some time to think about their loss to Penn State, and will now take on the Missouri Tigers. Missouri was not looked at to do much this year, but they have taken care of business at 2-0 behind quarterback Maty Mauck.

#21 Louisville (-6.5, 48.5) at Virginia 12:30 PM EST ESPN3

Virginia might be the surprise of the ACC this year, and their defense will look to give Louisville an unfriendly welcome into the conference. Bobby Petrino is off to a good start in Louisville, as they beat Miami in week 1, and thumped Murray State 66-21 last weekend.

#6 Georgia (-5.5, 60) at #24 South Carolina 3:30 PM EST CBS

Georgia is a team that has a lot of people talking as one of the top teams in the country led by Heisman candidate Todd Gurley. The Bulldogs will travel to Columbia to take on the 1-1 South Carolina Gamecocks, who had high expectations before they lost their home opener to Texas A&M.

Tennessee at #4 Oklahoma (-20.5, 54.5) 8:00 PM EST ABC

Oklahoma has rolled over the competition thus far, and they will get to show the nation how good they are when they host Tennessee on Saturday night. QB Trevor Knight leads an offense that averages 50 ppg against a Tennessee defense that has yielded only 13 ppg.

#12 UCLA (-7, 49.5) vs. Texas 8:00 PM EST FOX from AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX

It’s no secret that Texas is struggling, and now there is news that quarterback David Ash is out for indefinitely. They’ll have their work cut out for them when they take on the UCLA Bruins, who are loaded with talent, yet have failed to impress thus far in the season.

The Louisville Cardinals and the Michigan Wolverines were largely two of the best teams in the country all season long. Michigan floundered just a bit down the stretch of the regular season, while Louisville played its best basketball when it mattered the most, but after each team won five straight games in the dance, they now meet each other with the National Championship on the line. The Cardinals haven’t won the title since 1986. The Wolverines have failed to be the victors since 1989. Here at Bankroll Sports, we analyze the last battle on the college basketball betting lines of the season, as these two duke it out in Atlanta for all of the marbles.

March Madness: Michigan Wolverines vs. Louisville Cardinals
Michigan vs. Louisville Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Michigan vs. Louisville Date/Time: Monday, April 8th, 9:23 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: Trey Burke can’t have another game like he did against Syracuse
Big time players come to life in the biggest games of the season. Surprisingly though, Burke was rather MIA against the Syracuse Orange in the Final Four. He only scored seven points, and he wasn’t hitting any of those remarkable shots that we have become accustomed to seeing him knock down. In the clutch though, there still isn’t a player on either side of the court that we would rather have on our side, and it is definitely worth embracing that fact. Burke has proven time and time again that he has the ability to play the biggest ball in the biggest games, and it hasn’t even just been here in the dance. Sure, we all remember the two shots against the Kansas Jayhawks that eliminated the No. 1 seed in the South Region, but few remember that Burke was the man that came up with the steal to beat the Michigan State Spartans earlier this year, and he is the man that kept finding ways to score against some of the best and most ferocious defenses in the nation. Simply put, Burke is the man for the Wolverines, and though there is going to be plenty of discussion about some of the other players in this game, this is the one that has to step it up and become the de facto MVP if Big Blue is going to cut down the nets.

National Championship Game Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#4 Michigan Wolverines +3.5
#1 Louisville Cardinals -3.5
Over/Under 137.5
Click Here to Bet Your National Championship Game Picks!

Key #2: One of these teams needs to have its role players make some huge plays
When you talk about role players in big games like this one, you often only think of which player can come up with the most points, especially off of the bench. That being said, the player that it makes the most sense to talk about right now is F Luke Hancock, who came off of the bench and scored 20 points to lead the way for the Cardinals. Though we know that Hancock had a huge game, we’re not really referring to men like him that are used to playing regular minutes. Instead, we are referring to men like G Tim Henderson, who scored 16 points all season long and put up two threes in a row to push Louisville from down 12 to down six in a span of less than a minute. We’re talking about G Caris LeVert, who came onto the court for Michigan and scored eight huge points after not scoring a single point since March 3rd. G Spike Albrecht did damage as well, hitting two threes in his five minutes on the court against Syracuse. Albrecht now has 19 points in this tournament. He only had scored 48 points in the entire regular season and the Big Ten Tournament. Whichever one of these teams can get the most out of these types of players will have a huge leg up on the other, because the truth of the matter is that the talent level from #1 through #6 or #7 that these two teams have is remarkably similar.

Key #3: If the Wolverines get ahead, they have to throw down the hammer
We’ve watched time and time again here in the NCAA Tournament that teams that build substantial leads just don’t figure out how to put teams down. Davidson failed against Marquette, and the Golden Eagles ran all the way to the Elite Eight as a result. Wichita State didn’t put away Ohio State, and the Buckeyes had the ball down three points in that game with a chance to erase a 20-point deficit. The Shockers then blew a 12-point second half lead against Louisville. Even Michigan really isn’t exempt. The Wolverines had opportunity after opportunity to put away the Orange in the Final Four, and still, Syracuse found a way to have possession of the ball with less than 30 seconds to play with a chance to tie or take the lead. However, we have also seen the Wolverines as the beneficiaries of such an act. They were badly outplayed for most of the game against the Jayhawks, only to ultimately find a way to blow the game by getting outshot and turning the ball over too many times in the final five minutes or so. The one thing that we know about the Cardinals is that they aren’t giving up in games. The G Kevin Ware injury showed us that this team is resilient, and it has the ability to go on some massive runs to get the job done. If Michigan gets ahead and it doesn’t figure out how to keep its foot on the gas pedal, we know that the Cardinals are going to find their way back in this game.

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The 2013 NCAA Tournament schedule winds down to just a few games left on the docket. We are here at the Final Four in Atlanta, where the Wichita State Shockers and the Louisville Cardinals are set to go to battle. Join us here at Bankroll Sports, as we analyze some of the Wichita State vs. Louisville props and the Final Four props to make some money if you don’t want to bet the Wichita State vs. Louisville point spread.

Carl Hall Over/Under 6.5 Rebounds: Hall is one of the few Shockers that really hasn’t had a great NCAA Tournament. He has only averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 boards per game in the four games that the team has played in the dance, and he is going to be expected to do a heck of a lot more than that in this one. Louisville is a great rebounding team though, and it is going to be able to be the next team in line to really keep Hall from going off. The second-year man out of the Sunshine State has averaged 6.9 rebounds per game, so this seems like a relatively fair number, save for the fact that the Cardinals have really done a tremendous job on the glass all season long. Hall only had 11 points and six rebounds against the Pitt Panthers in the first round of this tournament, and we don’t see him doing any better than that in this one. Carl Hall Under 6.5 Rebounds (-125)

Russ Smith Over/Under 6.5 Foul Shots Made: The one thing that we’ll say about Smith is that he is definitely aggressive. This isn’t your prototypical three-point shooter. Smith is going to go after the hoop, create contact, and go to the charity stripe as a result. Over the course of his last three games in the dance, he has made at least nine free throws. We have no reason not to believe that Smith won’t get to the line at least 10 times again in this one, and if he does that, he’ll make at least seven of the shots. This is one of the easier props on the board to bet here in the Final Four. Russ Smith Over 6.5 Free Throws Made (-120)

Peyton Siva Total Points Over/Under 10.5: Siva really took over in that game against the Duke Blue Devils after the injury to G Kevin Ware that shook the core of the Louisville nation and sports fans everywhere. Whereas most of the Cardinals were in shock, and some were in tears, Siva really took over as a leader. He finished that game with 16 points, and that’s more than good enough for us to get to this prop on Saturday night. Siva averages 9.9 points per game this season, but we think that he is going to be in for a good one when push comes to shove. Since the last game of the regular season, the senior has scored at least 11 points in five of his nine games. Make it six out of 10 in this one. Peyton Siva Over 10.5 Points (-125)

Chane Behanan Total Rebounds Over/Under 6.5: Behanan is Louisville’s leading rebounder, and he did have eight boards against the Dookies last weekend, but we have a real question as to what his role really is on this team right now for Head Coach Rick Pitino. For much of the regular season, Behanan ultimately played in at least 25-30 minutes every night. Here in the postseason, his numbers have slid just a bit because his minutes have slid just a bit. We aren’t so sure that Behanan is going to be on the court for more than perhaps 20 minutes, if even that in this game, and if that turns out to be the case, especially in a game where the tempo and the rebounding opportunities should be lower, Behanan probably won’t be reaching this rebounding total. Chane Behanan Under 6.5 Rebounds (-110)

Wichita State Shockers vs. Louisville Cardinals Prop Card @ Bovada Sportsbook (as of 4/5/13):
(Get a HUGE 50% Bonus at JustBet.cx When Using This Link)
Carl Hall Over 11.5 Points -130
Carl Hall Under 11.5 Points -110

Carl Hall Over 6.5 Rebounds -115
Carl Hall Under 6.5 Rebounds -125

Carl Hall Over 17.5 Points + Rebounds -120
Carl Hall Under 17.5 Points + Rebounds -120

Cleanthony Early Over 12.5 Points -120
Cleanthony Early Under 12.5 Points -120

Cleanthony Early Over 5.5 Rebounds -135
Cleanthony Early Under 5.5 Rebounds -105

Cleanthony Early Over 0.5 3-Point Shots Made -200
Cleanthony Early Under 0.5 3-Point Shots Made +150

Malcolm Armstead Over 11.5 Points -130
Malcolm Armstead Under 11.5 Points -110

Malcolm Armstead Over 4 Assists -130
Malcolm Armstead Under 4 Assists -110

Malcolm Armstead Over 15.5 Points + Assists -130
Malcolm Armstead Under 15.5 Points + Assists -110

Malcolm Armstead Over 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -150
Malcolm Armstead Under 1.5 3-Point Shots Made +110

Ron Baker Over 8.5 Points -120
Ron Baker Under 8.5 Points -120

Ron Baker Over 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -130
Ron Baker Under 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -110

Russ Smith Over 19.5 Points -125
Russ Smith Under 19.5 Points -115

Russ Smith Over 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -130
Russ Smith Under 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -110

Russ Smith Over 5.5 Assists + Rebounds -120
Russ Smith Under 5.5 Assists + Rebounds -120

Russ Smith Over 6.5 Free Throws Made -120
Russ Smith Under 6.5 Free Throws Made -120

Gorgui Dieng Over 10.5 Points -125
Gorgui Dieng Under 10.5 Points -115

Gorgui Dieng Over 9.5 Rebounds -130
Gorgui Dieng Under 9.5 Rebounds -110

Gorgui Dieng Over 2.5 Blocks -115
Gorgui Dieng Under 2.5 Blocks -125

Gorgui Dieng Over 23.5 Points + Rebounds + Blocks -130
Gorgui Dieng Under 23.5 Points + Rebounds + Blocks -110

Peyton Siva Over 10.5 Points -125
Peyton Siva Under 10.5 Points -115

Peyton Siva Over 5.5 Assists -130
Peyton Siva Under 5.5 Assists -110

Peyton Siva Over 16.5 Points + Assists -130
Peyton Siva Under 16.5 Points + Assists -110

Peyton Siva Over 0.5 3-Point Shots Made -150
Peyton Siva Under 0.5 3-Point Shots Made +110

Peyton Siva Over 2.5 Free Throws Made -120
Peyton Siva Under 2.5 Free Throws Made -120

Chane Behanan Over 8.5 Points -120
Chane Behanan Under 8.5 Points -120

Chane Behanan Over 6.5 Rebounds -130
Chane Behanan Under 6.5 Rebounds -110

Luke Hancock Over 7.5 Points -130
Luke Hancock Under 7.5 Points -110

Luke Hancock Over 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -120
Luke Hancock Under 1.5 3-Point Shots Made -120

David is known for playing Goliath early in the NCAA Tournament, but here in the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta, we are seeing a very similar matchup once again. We’re breaking down the Final Four game lines for the Wichita State Shockers and the Louisville Cardinals, as they take on one another with a spot in the National Championship Game up for grabs on Saturday night.

March Madness: Wichita State Shockers vs. Louisville Cardinals
Wichita State vs. Louisville Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Wichita State vs. Louisville Date/Time: Saturday, April 6th, 6:09 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: Louisville cannot underestimate Wichita State’s abilities on the glass
This is what really got the Ohio State Buckeyes in a heck of a lot of trouble in the Elite Eight. OSU just had no clue how to deal with the bigs for Wichita State. It’s not that any one man really made a huge impact on the glass for the Shockers. They just rebounded the basketball as a team. The fact that they were able to go rebound for rebound with the Buckeyes, one of the best rebounding teams in America was a huge surprise to most. However, we really shouldn’t be surprised all that much. The Shockers not only ended up level on the glass against Ohio State, but they also went +2 in rebounding margin against another Big East team, the Pitt Panthers in the opening round of the tourney. Wichita State very quietly ranks 26th in the nation in rebounds per game (38.4) and seventh in rebounds against (26.1), and if you thought this was a product of a cupcake schedule, you can now put that theory to rest.

Final Four Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#9 Wichita State Shockers +10.5
#1 Louisville Cardinals -10.5
Over/Under 132.5
Click Here to Bet Your Final Four Picks!

Key #2: The Shockers cannot let Louisville go on “that run” to put the game away at any point
If we have one major knock on the Shockers right now, it is that they just didn’t manage to put away that Ohio State team when they had the chance. The Buckeyes went on that huge run and nearly got rid of a 20-point deficit in the second half down the stretch. We have seen Louisville go on runs like that through this entire tournament. Talking about that game against the North Carolina A&T Aggies is silly, but in the rest of these games, we can plainly see when the Cardinals took over. They went on a 24-12 run to end the first half to dismiss any chances the Colorado State Rams had of an upset, they were up 16 within the first five minutes of the game against the Oregon Ducks to put that one essentially away, and after the gruesome injury to G Kevin Ware, we saw the Cardinals take a 42-42 game and make it a 6-48 game in a span of just about nine minutes. We know that Louisville will go on its spurts. Runs of 10-2 will happen, and they’re going to happen against any team in America. Wichita State just has to avoid that knockout blow, the 20-4 run over a span of six minutes that it just wouldn’t recover from.

Key #3: The three ball has to be the great equalizer for Wichita State
The Shockers get a bad rap because they don’t shoot the three-point shot all that well. They were a woeful 2-of-20 from long range in their opening game against Pittsburgh, but since that point, they have figured out how to shoot the ball tremendously more efficiently, knocking down at least 40% of its shots from beyond the arc in each of the last three games. This is sort of what made the VCU Rams dangerous a few years ago on their run to the Final Four. They weren’t a particularly great shooting team, but they all of a sudden caught fire in the dance, parlayed those turnovers that they force into open shots, and they knocked them down from the outside. Wichita State doesn’t have the athletes to win this game with talent alone. It is clear that this squad has to do something special and hit seemingly every big time shot from downtown to get crowd on its side in Atlanta.

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The Duke Blue Devils have literally been going through a Murderer’s Row of teams to get here to the Elite Eight on Sunday afternoon in the Midwest Region. Now, they have to take on the top overall seed in the dance, the Louisville Cardinals on the Elite Eight odds. Check out the keys to the Louisville vs. Duke matchup, as well as the March Madness odds for what should be a great game.

March Madness: Duke Blue Devils vs. Louisville Cardinals
Duke vs. Louisville Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Duke vs. Louisville Date/Time: Sunday, March 31st, 2:10 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: Gorgui Dieng has to be a difference maker
Earlier this season, the Blue Devils and the Cardinals met in the Bahamas, and the end result was a victory for the Dookies. However, in that game, Dieng was on the sidelines out injured. This is where a real difference could be made. Though Louisville did win the rebounding battle that day, there wasn’t much in the way of resistance to F Mason Plumlee. The big man scored 16 points and had seven boards, and included in there were three huge offensive rebounds. Dieng has blocked 16 shots in his last seven games, many of which have come against top flight competition. The offensive numbers definitely don’t have to be there for the big man. Defensively though, Dieng has to block some shots and alter some others to flip the tide in favor of the No. 1 overall seed in this tournament.

Elite Eight Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#2 Duke Blue Devils +3.5
#1 Louisville Cardinals -3.5
Over/Under 137
Click Here to Bet Your Elite Eight Picks!

Key #2: The Cardinals have to get back to playing “Louisville Defense”
We heard Head Coach Rick Pitino at halftime of the game against the Oregon Ducks on Friday night mention that his team needed to get back to playing “Louisville defense.” The team really didn’t listen all that well, as it allowed 38 points in the second half of the game against the Ducks and were pushed right down to the wire in the game as a result. It’s clear what Pitino means. He has to get his team playing better ball in half-court sets, and there has to be more trapping and more full-court pressuring of the basketball to force more turnovers. We saw this team set the NCAA Tournament record for steals in a game back in the second round against the North Carolina A&T Aggies, and yet against Oregon, a No. 12 seed, the Cardinals only managed seven steals and really only won the game because they shot 53.8 percent from the floor. It’s clear that “Louisville defense” has to get back in the saddle against the Blue Devils if there is going to be another waltz into the Final Four for one of the proudest programs in the country.

Key #3: Seth Curry has to out-Russ Smith Russ Smith
You’re reading that properly. Curry has to figure out how to do his own impersonation of Smith and do it better than the Louisville guard. At times, Smith literally is off the chain. He scored 31 points in the win against Oregon on Friday night, and he has now averaged 27.0 points per game here in the dance. When Smith gets going, no one is going to be able to stop him. Curry looked a little bit like that on Friday as well against a very good Michigan State Spartans outfit. The senior knocked down six of his first seven three-point field goal attempts and finished the game with 29 points. It’s not necessarily a matter of getting the points that will make the difference in this game. The player that makes the biggest shots in the biggest moments is going to be the one that leads his team to Atlanta for the Final Four.

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Friday night in Indianapolis, the top seed in the Midwest Region, the Louisville Cardinals will take on one of the upstarts of the tournament, the Oregon Ducks. Our March Madness predictions are set to take place here at Bankroll Sports, as we analyze the keys to the game so you can make your Oregon vs. Louisville picks. Join us for the three most pressing factors that are going to help determine which one of these two teams is going to get to the Elite Eight and just one step away from the Final Four in Atlanta.

March Madness: Oregon Ducks vs. Louisville Cardinals
Oregon vs. Louisville Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Oregon vs. Louisville Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 7:15 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Dominic Artis has to get healthy
We’re starting to wonder if Artis really is ever going to be healthy this year for the Ducks. He hasn’t truly been a major factor in games, especially down the stretch ever since going out with an ankle injury at the outset of the Pac-12 season. Now, he is going to be in the thick of the fight against one of the most talented backcourts in the country. The Ducks have been fortunate to get good contributions from G Johnathan Loyd over the course of the middle of the Pac-12 campaign, and Loyd played well during the Pac-12 Tournament as well. However, he has only scored a total of 14 points and has a total of nine assists against nine turnovers here in the dance thus far, and that isn’t going to cut it. Either Loyd has to be a whole heck of a lot better, or Artis has to prove that he can be on the court and be productive with the game on the line, or the Ducks are in a lot of trouble.

Oregon vs. Louisville Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#12 Oregon Ducks +10
#1 Louisville Cardinals -10
Over/Under 128.5
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Key #2: Gorgui Dieng has to go back to being a dominating star
All of a sudden over the course of these last few games, Dieng has sort of disappeared in the Louisville rotation. He only has a total of 20 points and 10 rebounds in two games here in the NCAA Tournament, and he just isn’t getting the shot opportunities in the paint that he is used to getting. Part of Dieng’s game is getting the ball in the paint and dominating. We know that here in the dance, those opportunities are going to be fewer and farther between, especially with the way that the three-point shots get jacked up on both sides of the court. However, Dieng is still the one man that few can match up with in this entire country. He had a tough draw against Colorado State on Saturday, and he is going to have a rough one as well against F Arsalan Kazemi, who had eight points and 16 boards in the third round against a very tough Saint Louis outfit. However, Head Coach Rick Pitino cannot lose sight of the fact that he has as talented of a big man as there is in the country, and Dieng needs to be a big part of the game plan to win this one.

Key #3: The Ducks have to capitalize on their trips to the line
Just getting to the charity stripe is a tough task when you’re playing a team like Louisville. However, in the third round on Saturday, the Cardinals committed a total of 24 fouls in spite of the fact that the game was largely a blowout, especially in the second half. As a result, Colorado State went to the free throw line 21 times. Oregon has generally had a degree of success at the stripe over the course of the season, knocking down right around 71% of its chances. However, here in the NCAA Tournament, the Ducks are shooting just 64.9% from the foul line. Oregon isn’t going to be able to keep up the torrid pace that it is shooting three-pointers at right now (48.5% for the tourney), but what it can control is the way that it is shooting foul shots. There is no doubt that this is a team that is going to need to put together every point that it can possibly find. Leaving too many points on the board will certainly result in disaster against a team that it is tough enough to score on in the first place.

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2013 Sugar Bowl picks are going to be entertaining to make this year, as we have two teams that are going to be going at it against each other in what could be an unpredictable game in the Florida Gators and the Louisville Cardinals. Join us for our Sugar Bowl keys to the game and our Louisville vs. Florida predictions.

2013 Sugar Bowl: Florida Gators vs. Louisville Cardinals
2013 Sugar Bowl Location: Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
2013 Sugar Bowl Date/Time: Wednesday, January 1st, 8:30 p.m. (ET)
2013 Sugar Bowl On TV: ESPN

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2012-13 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

Key #1: Florida’s offense needs to get something out of someone aside from Mike Gillislee
We give all of the credit in the world to what RB Mike Gillislee has been able to do this year. He has had a good offensive line in front of him, which really has helped quite a bit, and he put up 1,104 yards and a total of 11 TDs on the year. The most remarkable part about the whole thing is that he did all of this without any semblance of a passing game. Florida’s offense just stunk it up with QB Jeff Driskel out there, as he threw for just 1,465 yards and 11 TDs and rushed for 404 yards. Granted, when Driskel was at his best, Florida was in fine shape. The good news is that he was at his best in the team’s most recent game against the Florida State Seminoles. In that game, he threw for 147 yards and a score and proved to be the MVP of the game. When he was effective, the rest of the ground game was able to really get going, and the team ended up with 244 yards on 47 carries for the game. That’s the type of production that it is going to take to ultimately win the Sugar Bowl this year, but if Driskel has one of these games where he goes 10-of-28 for 90 yards with no scores, Florida is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble.

Sugar Bowl Odds at BetGuardian Sportsbook
Florida Gators -14
Louisville Cardinals +14
Over/Under 47
Click Here to Bet Your Sugar Bowl Picks!

Key #2: Louisville’s defense has to step up against the run
For most of the season, Head Coach Charlie Strong had his boys from the ‘Ville playing great ball on the defensive side of things. Down the stretch though, the team slipped just a bit. The Syracuse Orange ran for 278 yards against this unit, and the Connecticut Huskies picked up 149 yards on the ground as well. The team rebounded against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and held a team that really can move the rock on the ground to just 54 yards, and that’s a large chunk of the reason why Louisville was even able to make it to the BCS this year. Take out that game against Syracuse though, and what’s left is a unit that allowed right around 140 yards per game rushing this year. If the Cardinals can hold the Gators to that type of a number, the blue and orange are going to have an awfully tough time figuring out how to cover the spread in this one, and potentially win the game outright as well. If Driskel is forced to put the ball in the air, the Gators are going to be in some trouble.

Key #3: The Cards cannot get beaten by Florida’s special teams
We have seen the Gators do too much work on special teams over the course of the last few months to know that it could be problematic again in this one. The team has tried fake punts, fake field goals, gimmick plays, has blocked punts, blocked kicks, returned kicks and punts for scores… You name it on special teams, Head Coach Will Muschamp has dialed it up. Most of it has worked, but not all of it has. If not for the blocked punt returned for a touchdown against the Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the Gators would have been playing here or in the Outback Bowl (or worse). Here’s the other facet to Florida’s game that we haven’t discussed yet: The kicking game. K Caleb Sturgis has a huge leg and can boot it from 55 yards if given the chance. He was one of the better kickers in America this year, while P Kyle Christy averaged a whopping 46.1 yards per punt attempt. Special teams are where Florida really has killed a ton of foes this year, and Louisville has to avoid being the next team in a long line of clubs that succumbed to the UF special teams unit to have a chance at the upset.

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