Site: Vanderbilt Stadium (Cap. 40,550)
Time: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: SEC Network / 850 AM
It’s a cold world out there, Gator fans.
Temperatures dipped well into the 40s at one point this week in Gainesville — a rarity in Florida during winter, let alone early November.
And right when we start getting back into our comfort zone that is the low 70s, the alligatorSports road crew is on the heels of heading to Nashville to watch a bout under the lights between the Gators and the Commodores of Vanderbilt.
The high temp on Saturday will be a crisp 61 degrees, with it dropping as low as a chilly 35 degrees by the end of the night.
And we here at alligatorSports (except for maybe the cold-blooded Jordan) are internally screaming at this occurrence.
For those of you making the nine-hour trek to Music City like us, embrace for the chill.
Now onto the picks!
Alone at the top of the pack with a 38-40 record is the Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar "candy shop" Thompson, who handed out Reese’s peanut butter cups to all the younger reporters at Wednesday’s football media availability. Seriously, Edgar? All you’re missing is the broken down white van with video games in the back.
Standing in second at 37-41 is alligatorSports staff writer Jonathan "Flat tire" Czupryn, who stumbled into the office late Wednesday night after some vehicular malfunctions earlier in the day. God, man. Between your passenger seat mirror hanging on by a limb, brown recluse spiders crawling all over the place and your tire popping, what else is going to happen to you?
Tied with Zoop for second place is Inside the Gators’ Landon "Put me in the game, Coach" Watnick, who was almost run over by the UF men’s basketball team as they ran onto the O’Connell Center floor for the second half of their exhibition game against Barry. We get it Landon, you want to play. But you need to face the facts that height alone doesn’t equal talent.
In fourth place at 36-42 is alligatorSports staff writer Morgan "Agriculture Hater" Moriarty, who admitted on our podcast on Wednesday that she wrote in Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin on her ballot for Commissioner of Agriculture. What were you thinking, Morgan? Clearly, Todd Gurley would have been the better choice.
Keeping steady at the middle of the pack with a 34-44 clip is 247sports.com’s Thomas "all hail the Aggies" Goldkamp, who was the only Picks columnist this week to pick Texas A&M (+21) to cover the spread against Auburn. Really, Thomas? You’ve been out of dead-ass-last for a little while now. Do you want to go back there?
Tied with Goldkamp for fifth place is alligatorSports.org editor Richard "Brisket is the hands-down No. 1 seed" Johnson, who spent more time arguing his top-four seeds for his barbecue bracket than the entire playoff committee took to create their latest top-25 poll. We get it, man. And just like the playoff committee tabbing two SEC teams in its current poll, Richard pulled a similar tactic and has two different types of ribs in his bracket as well. Can you stop with the bias and put some pulled pork in your top four?
In seventh at 33-45 is Gator Country’s Nick "Don’t Call it a Comeback" de la Torre, who finally escaped the elusive dead-ass-last spot for the first time in a month. Don’t get too excited, Nick. You’re still on pace to have a worse record than your Miami Dolphins. Now, if only your Tinder account had as much success as your picks column this year...
And in dead-ass-last with a piss-poor record of 32-46 is alligatorSports editor Jordan "McFear the Beard" McPherson, who is embracing his inner caveman this month as he takes part in the annual "no-shave November." Make sure you don’t go into any family neighborhoods, Jordan. You’ll probably give kids nightmares.
Vernon Hargreaves III makes a tackle during Florida's 38-20 win against Georgia at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
