The Louisville Cardinals from the Big East conference will face the Florida Gators from the SEC conference in the Sugar Bowl in an NCAA college football game on Wednesday January 2nd. Kick off time from the Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana is scheduled for 8:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The betting odds in the Sugar Bowl opened up with the Florida Gators favored by -13 ½ points with an over under line of 45 ½ points. Early money from the betting public has landed on the side of the SEC conference school as Florida is now favored by -14 points. The total has moved up a ½ point to 46 points.
The Gators and Cardinals last met way back in the 1992 season where Florida earned the 31-17 home win as a -14 point betting favorite. CFB Trend: Florida Gators are 1-4 ATS in their past five games.
Louisville will play in the Sugar Bowl with a record of 10-2. The team went 4-1 away from home. They finished tied with four teams in the Big East and earn the berth into the Sugar Bowl based on the highest BCS rankings between the tied teams. The team losses came late in the season to Syracuse by 19 points and an overtime defeat at home to Connecticut. Notable wins came this season at home in overtime against Cincinnati and on the road in a hostile environment at Rutgers winning 20-17 to deny the Scarlet Knights a Sugar Bowl trip. The Cardinals are a good passing team throwing for 298 yards a game ranking 24th in college football. The team averages 31 points a game and allows 23 points. Louisville defends the pass very well as the Cardinals allow 193 yards per contest ranking 19th in the nation. Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had 25 touchdowns and seven picks this season while completing 69% of his passes.
The Gators enter play with a record of 11-1 on the year. They went 4-1 away from home. The only loss of the season for Florida came on October 27th where they were defeated at Georgia 17-9 as a -6 point favorite. Had the not given away that game with six turnovers they may have played in the BCS Championship Game. Notable wins came against LSU and South Carolina at home and shut down Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M on the road with a victory 20-17. Florida was a good defensive team ranking fifth in the nation by allowing just 282 yards a game. The score 26 points a game and give up just 13. Offense was a struggle for the Gators as they ranked 104th in the nation with 338 yards per game. They did not throw the football very well with a 118th national rank with 143 yards passing a game. Sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel threw for 11 touchdowns and 3 picks and a 64.7% completion percentage.