Its Championship Saturday and the pros at FiveStarPick.com are pumped about today’s SEC Championship game between the #1 Ranked Florida Gators and the #2 Ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Gators as 5.5-point favorites with at total of 43.

Alabama (12-0 SU, 7-5 ATS) is fresh off a 26-21 road win at Auburn as 10-point favorites. The Tide were looking like they were going to go down, but somehow rallied and took the lead in the final minute on QB Greg McElroy’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Roy Upchurch.  Heisman candidate Mark Ingram definately hurt his chances for the award with a 30 yard performance on 16 carries.  McElroy, on the other hand, showed some confidence completing 21-of-31 passes for 218 yards and 2 TDs.

McElroy had never started a game until this year and played great at the beginning of this season. Then against Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU, McElroy started looking like a rookie.  Having said that, Nick Saban’s Tide continue to find ways to get the ‘W’. Since then, McElroy has thrown five TD passes with no interceptions.

Florida (12-0 straight up, 6-5 against the spread) has a ”semi-good” quarterback with a Heisman Trophy and a pair of national titles.  Last week in The Swamp Tim Tebow connected on 17-of-21 passes for 214 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. By the way, he also rushed 15 times for 90 yards and 2 more TDs.

The Gators embarrased FSU, 37-10, as 25-point home favorites. Urban Meyer didn’t want to run up the score on legendary coach Bobby Bowden, so he pulled his starters late in the 3rd quarter and still took them to the wood shed.

On a side-bar…UF lost Junior All-American DE Carlos Dunlap after he was arrested Tuesday morning for DUI. Meyer says he is out for today’s game, but might re-instate him for the National Title Game should he prove his worth over the next few weeks. Dunlap was named the Defensive MVP of last year’s win over Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game and he lead the SEC in sacks in 2008.  Needless to say he will be sorely missed.

Who covers the spread today? This game is not an easy game to handicap, but the pros at FiveStarPick.com have broken down every stat, trend, injury report and weather forecast on this game to provide our members with a winning play.  Try FiveStarPick.com today for only ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business that documents our wins and losses, then displays them on our homepage for all to see.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

Before you read this preview, take a minute to go to our home page and look at our recent plays.  FiveStarPick.com is on another hot streak winning 12 of our last 15 member plays.  For the 2008 season, our dime bettors are up $92,800; and that includes a 10% vig.  Several of our over 2300 members bet $10,000 a game and are up nearly $1 Million Dollars for the year.  Now that’s some real money and we couldn’t be happier for them.  Betting on sports is how we make our living and nothing makes us smile more than to see a sportsbook get rocked.

Today will be no different as we give out several strong member plays including the winner of the SEC Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators.  Las Vegas sportsbooks opened Florida (11-1 straight up, 8-2 against the spread) as an 8.5-point favorite with a total of 50. As of early this morning, most spots had the Gators at 10 with the total set at 52.

The Gators have won 8 in a row by an average of 39.6 points per game. The Gators have averaged 51.7 PPG during this stretch and they have covered the spread in every lined game since their lone loss of the year against non-ranked Ole Miss on Sep. 27. 

Alabama (12-0 SU, 9-3 ATS) hasn’t been particularly pretty in their 12 wins, but 9-3 ATS is nothing to sneeze at.  In fact, they have taken the cash in five consecutive games, including last week’s 36-0 win over Auburn as 14.5-point favorites.  The win snapped a six-game losing streak for ‘Bama in the Iron Bowl. Glen Coffee rushed for 144 yards on 20 carries, while Mark Ingram had a pair of scores on 64 rushing yards.

This rushing attack is large in part due to Alabama’s offensive line, who might be the best in the country. Junior OT Andre Smith is a layup for All-American and Senior Antoine Caldwell is one of the SEC’s top centers. Coffee has rushed for 1,235 yards and 9 touchdowns for the season, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Ingram has 11 rushing TDs and averages 5.4 YPC.  It will be a lot for Florida to prepare for.

Senior QB John Parker Wilson hasn’t been that impressive with a 9/5 touchdown-interception ratio, but he has done everything Nick Saban has asked of him.  The Tide has one of the best wide receivers in the country in freshman Julio Jones, who has 46 receptions for 723 yards and four TDs.

Florida’s offense gets most of the press, but the Gators have one of the nation’s premier defenses. UF is second in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 12.2 PPG. This unit is led by All-American middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, who has 80 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 interceptions.

And then there’s Tim Tebow.  The reigning Heisman Trophy winner has an incredible 25/2 TD-INT ratio. He also has 507 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. UF’s offense goes through Tebow, but he has weapons galore at his disposal in Jeff Demps, Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey and Brandon James.  All are capable of taking it to the house on any given play. 

Harvin has scored a touchdown in 14 consecutive games. He has nine rushing TDs and averages 8.8 YPC. Harvin also has a team-high 35 receptions for 595 yards and seven TDs.  Harvin sprained his ankle against the Seminoles and hasn’t practiced all week. UF is hoping he can play and the guess here is that he will. Who knows how effective he will be. 

So who covers the spread in today’s game?  Why not let FiveStarPick.com get rid of the guesswork.  For only $99 a month you will get a professional team of handicappers behind you that give you daily plays that beat the spread and get results.  Please note that it is impossible to win every game, but if you only bet our daily plays you will come out way ahead for the year.  We are 120 games over .500 this year, so join today and start winning tonight!

Jimmy the Geek – FiveStarPick.com