College Basketball Betting: Toledo vs. Florida Picks: November 14th 2008

Free College Basketball Pick: Toledo vs. Florida
Florida -22.5 - Friday November 14th ‘08 6:00p
With all five starters set to return this year from a 24-win campaign, things looked bright for the Florida Gators. But how quickly things changed for Billy Donovan when Marreese Speights, the teams only low-post blue-chipper, opeted for the play for pay league.
Now questions surround a posistion, that just a few months appeared to be on of the teams biggest strengths. Thankfully for the Gators they had one of the better recruiting classes in the country and that means they’ll be counting on a pair of 6-10 freshman: Eloy Vargas and Kenny Kadji to fill the big sneakers of Speights. If the Gators can fill that hole in the middle, they’ll have, if I can use a baseball metaphor, all the bases covered in the other areas, There’s no reason this Gator team can’t compete for another SEC crown and for Donovan’s sake, return to the “Big Dance”. Florida comes into tonight’s game with Toledo with some “young guys” who’ve already earned veteran stripes for their play last season. Example #1 is Nick Calathes who earned SEC Newcomer of the Year honors and lead the Gators in scoring, assists (No. 1 in the conference in assists per game), 3-pointers and steals. Another freshman, Jai Lucas, started all 36 games and shot 43.5 percent from downtown. Junior forward Dan Werner and senior guard Walter Hodge are the other two returning starters. In addition to the starters, Chandler Parsons, Adam Allen, and Tyus played in all of Florida’s games and averaged at least 10 minutes per appearance. So there’s experience, depth and a yearning to make up for what was, by Florida standards, a sub-par season. Sure they advanced into the NIT tournament and while that might be acceptable for some teams, that won’t get it done in Gatorville.
In this opener tonight, I’m going to side with Billy D’s group and lay the -22.5 - Courtesy of Bob Harvey..

If you are interested in college basketball betting this season and need free basketball picks, be sure to check out Bob Harvey at Touthouse.com