SITE: Everbank Field (cap. 67,164)
KICKOFF: 3:30 p.m., Saturday
TV/RADIO: CBS / 850 AM
The world’s largest outdoor cocktail party is finally back.
Florida and Georgia rekindle their annual rivalry on Saturday, and we here at the alligatorSports Brand Picks Column fully embrace that you Gator fans down a couple (read: a lot) of cocktails before watching this game.
For the Gators, this game is clouded with too many questions to provide them any sense of comfort.
What if Florida’s offense fails to execute with Treon Harris as the starter?
What if the Gators fail to stop Nick Chubb and the ‘Dawgs’ run game?
What if Will Muschamp fails to win a game in this series again?
We could continue this list, but you’ve probably been asking yourself these questions all week.
So sit back, grab a cocktail and enjoy what’s to come.
Now onto the picks!
Through 70 picks this season, we have a four-way tie for first place, but that doesn’t mean much as those four only have a record of 35-35.
Representing alligatorSports at the top of the leaderboard are staff writers AKA "brother and sister" Jonathan Czupryn and Morgan Moriarty, who argued like long-lost siblings during our weekly podcast regarding sleeper picks for the College Football Playoff while Richard Johnson and I sat back and enjoyed the show. How about we just call it down the middle and say that both Notre Dame (Zoop’s pick) and Baylor (Morgan’s pick) both make the playoffs in double-sleeper fashion. Or nah?
Continuing his success this season and joining Czupryn and Moriarty at the top of the leaderboard is the Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar "Ke-Ke" Thompson, who has mentioned time and time again his infatuation toward Florida’s starting safety. Really, Edgar? Whatever happened to Sweet Lou?
Rounding out the top of the group is Inside the Gators’ Landon "Might come later to grab them" Watnick, who harped alligatorSports editor Jordan McPherson for Florida’s media guides from 1991-1994 to write a story that nobody probably gives a damn about. Come on, man! Didn’t you take enough from the office when you took the TV back?
Sitting in fifth place with a 33-37 clip is 247sports.com’s Thomas "Ropin’ in Roper’s wife" Goldkamp, who Florida offensive coordinator Kurt Roper pointed to and said, "Help me out there, OK. I’ve got a great wife" when talking about how football can affect a coach’s personal life. Is there something you want to tell us, Goldkamp? Is Roper’s wife really better looking than "most of us"?
And now we have a three-way tie for dead-ass-last with the trio posting an equally piss-poor record of 31-39.
First on that list are a duo of "Gurley Girls" in alligatorSports editor Jordan McPherson and alligatorSports.org Editor Richard Johnson, who both chose UGA running back Todd Gurley as their tailback of choice over UGA freshman Nick Chubbs. ... Or at least that’s their logic behind it.
And rounding out the dead-ass-last group is Gator Country’s Nick "Bad Start" de la Torre, who was so damn horrible early on this year that having the second-best record from last week still couldn’t get him out of dead-ass-last this week. But don’t get your hopes down just yet, Nick. If your fortunes look similar to the Gators’, I guess you’ll be alright.
Kelvin Taylor rushes during Florida's 23-20 loss to Georgia on Nov. 2 at Everbank Field in Jacksonville.
