The Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl might as well be called the Urban Meyer Bowl. Is it just a coincidence that just prior to the Gator Bowl matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten and Florida of the SEC was announced that Ohio State unveiled former Florida head coach Urban Meyer as its new coach?

Coincidence or not, the interest in two 6-6 teams has been heightened with the story of Meyer watching his new school take on his old one.

This will be Florida's ninth showing in the Gator Bowl, which shares their name, but the first appearance since 1992. These two programs have met just once before, with Florida posting a 41-14 victory over the Buckeyes in the 2007 BCS National Title Game.

A look at our current Gator Bowl odds shows Florida favored by 2 points, while the over/under has been listed at 44 points.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes come into this game off three straight losses to end up fourth in the Big Ten Leaders Division (3-5). Most recently, Ohio State lost a 40-34 contest to rival Michigan – then brought on Meyer as their coach. The Buckeyes were 1-4 away from home, losing the final two.

Defensively, the Buckeyes are a commendable 26th in the nation in defense (21 points per contest) and surrender 329 yards per game (186 through the air, 143 on the ground) while recording 23 sacks and forcing 17 turnovers.

C.J. Barnett anchors this unit with 69 tackles, while Andrew Sweat has 68 stops and Jonathan Hankins has 64. John Simons leads with seven sacks, Bradley Roby and Orhian Johnson each have three picks and Ryan Shazier and Travis Howard has two forced fumbles.

On offense, Ohio State rates just 75th in scoring (25 ppg) while compiling 320 yards per game (196 running, 124 throwing). The ground attack is led by Braxton Miller, Dan Herron and Carlos Hyde with a combined 1,840 yards and 16 scores on 5.0 yards per attempt.

Miller connects on 50 % of his throws for 997 yards and 11 scores with four interceptions, while the offensive line has allowed 40 sacks. The top receivers on the team are Corey Brown and Jake Stoneburner with 14 grabs each for a combined 398 yards and eight scores, while Devin Smith has 12 catches for 247 yards and four scores.

Florida

Florida began the year 4-0 under new head coach Will Muschamp, but faltered during the last part of their schedule, going 2-6 down the stretch with five losses against current top-25 schools to finish third in the SEC East (3-5). Florida was 1-4 as a visitor but 5-3 in their home state.

Florida rates 25th nationally in points against (21 points per contest) and gives up 299 yards per contest (167 passing, 132 running) while recording 22 sacks and forcing 12 turnovers – three of which were taken back for touchdowns (Jaye Howard, fumble; De’Ante Saunders and Jelani Jenkins, interceptions).

Jonathan Bostic leads this unit with 86 stops, while Ronald Powell has five sacks. Matt Elam leads with two picks and two forced fumbles while chipping in 72 tackles.

Florida rates 72nd in the country in points (26 ppg) while totaling 334 yards per game (190 throwing, 144 rushing). John Brantley has connected on 59 % of his attempts for 1,912 yards and 10 scores with six interceptions. The offensive line has given up 23 sacks.

Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps lead the ground game with a combined 1,329 yards and eight TDs on 5.3 yards per carry, while Rainey and Jordan Reed are the main receiving options with 28 grabs each for a combined 657 yards and four touchdowns.

Take a look at the football bowl odds on every single game this year at BetFirms. Sign up for the college bowl picks offered by our experts and increase your chances of beating those odds.

The Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl might as well be called the Urban Meyer Bowl. Is it just a coincidence that just before the Gator Bowl matchup between Ohio State of the Big Ten and the Florida Gators of the SEC was announced that Ohio State unveiled former Gator head coach Urban Meyer as its new mentor?

Coincidence or not, the hoopla surrounding two 6-6 teams has been heightened with the story of Meyer watching his new school take on his old one.

This will be the Gators’ ninth appearance in the bowl, which shares their name, but the first time here since 1992. These two programs have met just one time before, with Florida posting a 41-14 victory over the Buckeyes in the 2007 BCS National Title Game.

A look at our current Gator Bowl spread shows Florida favored by 2 points, while the over/under has been listed at 44 points.

Ohio State

Ohio State enters this bowl off three straight defeats to end up fourth in the Big Ten Leaders Division (3-5). Recently, Ohio State dropped a 40-34 contest to rival Michigan – then brought on Meyer as their coach. The Buckeyes were 1-4 away from home, dropping the last two.

On defense, the Buckeyes are a commendable 26th in the country in points allowed (21 points per game) and give up 329 yards per game (186 through the air, 143 running) while recording 23 sacks and enticing 17 turnovers.

C.J. Barnett anchors the defense with 69 tackles, while Andrew Sweat has 68 stops and Jonathan Hankins has 64. John Simons leads with seven sacks, Bradley Roby and Orhian Johnson each have three interceptions and Ryan Shazier and Travis Howard has two forced fumbles.

On offense, Ohio State rates just 75th in points (25 ppg) while totaling 320 yards per contest (196 running, 124 through the air). The ground attack is led by Braxton Miller, Dan Herron and Carlos Hyde with a combined 1,840 yards and 16 scores on 5.0 yards per carry.

Miller completes 50 percent of his attempts for 997 yards and 11 scores with four interceptions, while the offensive line has allowed 40 sacks. The main receivers on the team are Corey Brown and Jake Stoneburner with 14 catches each for a total of 398 yards and eight touchdowns, while Devin Smith has 12 receptions for 247 yards and four touchdowns.

Florida

Florida started 4-0 under new head coach Will Muschamp, but fell off during the last part of their schedule, going 2-6 the rest of the way with five defeats versus current top-25 teams to end up third in the SEC East (3-5). Florida was 1-4 as a visitor but 5-3 in their home state.

Florida ranks 25th in the nation in scoring defense (21 points per contest) and gives up 299 yards per game (167 throwing, 132 rushing) while recording 22 sacks and forcing 12 turnovers – three of which were returned for TDs (Jaye Howard, fumble; De’Ante Saunders and Jelani Jenkins, picks).

Jonathan Bostic leads the defense with 86 stops, while Ronald Powell has five sacks. Matt Elam leads with two interceptions and two forced fumbles while chipping in 72 stops.

Florida ranks 72nd in the country in points (26 ppg) while gaining 334 yards per game (190 throwing, 144 running). John Brantley has connected on 59 % of his passes for 1,912 yards and 10 TDs with six interceptions. The offensive line has allowed 23 sacks.

Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps anchor the ground attack with a combined 1,329 yards and eight scores on 5.3 yards per attempt, while Rainey and Jordan Reed are the main receiving options with 28 grabs each for a combined 657 yards and four touchdowns.

Take a look at the football bowl odds on each game this season at BetFirms. Sign up for the college bowl picks offered by our handicappers and increase your chances of beating those spreads.

No less than 5 unbeaten AP Top 25 teams lost their initial game over the weekend, and three of them suffered significant upsets as well. Seventh-ranked Florida, 9th-ranked Stanford, 11th-ranked Wisconsin, 18th-ranked Southern California (USC) and 23rd-ranked North Carolina State all lost.

No. 1 Alabama just took it to Florida something awful, not just beating but crushing the visiting Gators 31-6 in a humiliation Florida players is not going to quickly forget.

(Editor's Note: All rankings put to use in this post are from the AP Top 25 Poll and all team ratings utilised are from Sagarin, the gold regular amongst rating services.)

With an Alabama defense like a swarm of thirsty hornets -- Courtney Upshaw had 4 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and C. J. Mosley returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown - the Gators committed 4 turnovers, and could not even smell the Alabama end zone.

Nine of AP's Top 25 teams and three of the top 5 had been given a reality check over the weekend.

Was I surprised at this annual occurrence? Hardly. When you commence analyzing how a number of the teams began the week at 4-0 and ended it at 4-1, it truly is as quick to see as your face in a mirror. Reality has a way of revealing all the wrinkles and weaknesses.

And do you bear in mind Florida's 15-minute hero last week? You know, freshman Trey Burton who scored 6 touchdowns against Kentucky to break Tim Tebow's record, he gained all of five yards on 4 carries.

For openers, you will discover the No.3 Oklahoma Sooners who lost a Big 12 Conference game 27-24 by a last second field objective in Colorado towards the Buffalos. Oklahoma dropped to No.

The Sooners got to their lofty No. three ranking by beating No. 170th rated North Texas, No. 58th rated Tulsa and No. Their offense ran up large scores on everybody, but their strength of schedule was only the 100th most effective in the country.

The Tide may perhaps not have a whole lot going on offensively, but the sheer running authority of Mark Ingram (who scored twice on short runs) and Trent Richardson is enough to scare the bejesus out of any team.

They lost 20-17 by a field goal at dwelling to Auburn in a SEC Conference game. Florida was behind 17-3 going into the 4th quarter.

What a night for the Crimson Tide faithful, who treat SEC games like Civil War battles against the Northern intruders.

The 4th-ranked Oregon Ducks, a team that appears to come alive following they appear like a cooked goose, rose from the dead following the 7th-ranked Stanford Cardinal flew into their stadium and took a very impressive, extremely fast 21-3 lead in the 1st quarter of this first-time match-up of these two schools as nationally-ranked teams.

After spotting Oregon an opening field goal, the Ducks could only watch as Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck threw an 18-yard TD pass, ran for a 10-yard TD, after which passed for another 44-yard TD.

But it was a few Oregon sophomores who would win the day. QB Darron Thomas would go 20-for-29 (69%) for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns, and LaMichael James would gain 257 yards on 31 carries (7.65 ypc) and score three times on runs of five and three yards prior to finishing Stanford off having a 76-yard burst within the final minutes.

Meyer's team had won 18 in-a-row at home, 17 because Meyer took over in 2005.

The Gators got to their No. 110 Western Kentucky, No. Beating Tennessee is what vaulted Florida up inside the rankings. Florida dropped to No. 9 in the rankings.

No. five West Virginia ran smack into No. 18 South Florida in a Big East face-off in South Florida and lost 21-13. Coach Jim Leavitt and his South Florida Bulls are promptly becoming the team nobody wants to face, and THE story of the college football season.

This game was all about offense as Oregon gained 626 yards and Stanford 518. It would appear that neither team, unlike Alabama, has a defense worth speaking about.

The Ducks helped their cause immensely by forcing two essential turnovers, and holding The Cardinal pointless in the second half whilst scoring 4 touchdowns.

Stanford has not won a game even though ranked inside the Top 10 since 1970.

West Virginia dropped from No. 18 to No. 6.

West Virginia got to its No. 5 ranking by taking down No. 94 Western Michigan, No. Mountaineer fans who expected West Virginia to go undefeated this year and win the national title have to have to regroup.

Head coach Mark Dantonio, who suffered a mild heart attack following his team's last-second overtime win over Notre Dame, observed himself back in the hospital for this game simply because of a blood clot in his leg. He had meant to be back within the coaching box.

On Michigan State's critical drive late within the game, Treadwell referred to as for a prosperous try on a 4th-and-1 scenario that ultimately led to the 34-24 upset win.

No. 7 Texas got genuinely identified out and embarrassed at residence against Kansas State in yet another Big 12 game because the Wildcats dumped on the Longhorns, 41-21. I have been questioning Texas' stature since the beginning of the year, and now my suspicions have been validated.

The Spartans would convert 3 3rd-downs on the drive just before needing all four downs to score near the aim line on a 1-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to B. J. Cunningham to seal the victory.

162 Rice, No. 100 Arkansas State, No. 73 Central Florida and No. Particularly telling was Central Florida, which Texas beat by a field goal although giving up 32 points. 19, a much far more realistic location for the Longhorns to lounge.

Last year at Husky Stadium, Erik Folk nailed a 22-yard field objective with 3 seconds left to upset then 3rd-ranked Southern Cal in what became a signature victory for first-year coach Steve Sarkisian and his Huskies.

No. 10 Rutgers, the darlings of the Big East, have been upset at dwelling by Maryland 34-24, and dropped to No. 21. 20 Cincinnati and unranked Connecticut--are becoming overlooked.

Rutgers rose to No. 10 by whipping up on No. 208 AA Norfolk State, No. 142 Buffalo and No. 68 Navy. Good grief, speak about a lame schedule. They deserve what they get.

No. 11 Oregon played host to No. 6 California in a Pac 10 matchup and led 14-10 going into the 4th quarter but the Bears scored three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes to put them away, 31-24.

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