A four-game bowl schedule on Monday concludes with one of the New Year’s Six games in the Orange Bowl as No. 9 Florida of the SEC takes on No. 24 Virginia, the ACC runner-up. Be a huge Gator lean in terms of fan support in Miami. UF is a better than two-TD favorite on the Mybookie NCAAF odds.

How to Bet Florida vs Virginia Orange Bowl Odds & Game Info

• When: Monday, 8 PM ET
• Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
• TV: ESPN
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• Radio: SiriusXM
• Orange Bowl Odds: Florida -14.5 (Total 54)

California vs Illinois 2019 Redbox Bowl Betting Lines & Game Preview

Florida vs Virginia Series History

Florida leads 1-0, winning 44-10 in Gainesville in 1959.

Why Bet on Florida?

The Gators are making their second consecutive New Year’s Six bowl appearance, and will play in back-to-back marquee bowl games for the first time since 2008. Before last season’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl berth, UF made just one marquee bowl game from 2010-17 (2013 Sugar Bowl). Florida is 3-0 in its previous Orange Bowl appearances, the first of which was in 1967 (capping the 1966 season), and the most recent of which was in 2002 (capping the 2001 season). UF is 23-21 all-time in bowls.

The Gators (10-2) finished second in the SEC East behind Georgia but won their final three games, including a 40-17 rout of Florida State in the regular-season finale. Quarterback Kyle Trask passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns and the UF defense sacked FSU quarterbacks eight times, three by senior linebacker Jonathan Greenard. It was UF’s first home win in the rivalry since Tim Tebow’s swan-song game in 2009. The Gators scored 23 unanswered points spanning the first and second quarters to take a 30-7 halftime lead and roll to the win.

UF’s second straight victory in the series gave the Gators a second consecutive 10-win season, as well; the first time putting back-to-back double-digit campaigns together since going 13-1 and winning the 2008 national championship, then chasing that season with another 13-1 record.

Some Numbers

Florida is outscoring opponents 230-79 in the second half this year, including outscoring teams 119-29 in the fourth quarter. Florida’s 46 sacks this season rank 5th among all FBS teams and lead the SEC by 13 sacks. If the Gators collect four sacks in the bowl game, they will finish a season with 50-plus sacks for the fourth time in history (1997 – 53; 1996 – 51; 1989 – 50 — all seasons include bowl game stats).

Dan Mullen is the first head coach in program history to win 10 games in each of his first two seasons. This is the first time since 2008 the Gators defeated Miami and Florida State in the same season. Mullen is 6-2 in bowl games as a head coach, with his six wins being by an average of 21.8 points.

One key Gator will not play in the game: cornerback CJ Henderson has declared for the NFL draft and chose to sit this out. He has dealt with an ankle injury this season. In nine games for the Gators, he has 26 tackles and 11 pass breakups, including three each in SEC showdowns with LSU and Auburn.

Why Bet on Virginia?

The game will mark Virginia’s first appearance in the Orange Bowl. It’s UVA’s 21st bowl appearance and third consecutive under fourth-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall. The Orange Bowl gives UVA a chance to win its 10th game of the year, matching the program record set in 1989. The Wahoos are 8-12 in bowl games.

Virginia (9-4) reached the ACC title game for the first time in school history but was routed 62-17 by No. 3 Clemson. Virginia had the most yards of total offense, with 387, against Clemson this year. The Cavaliers had 283 passing yards and 104 rushing. Clemson finished with 619 total yards. Virginia led the game in time of possession with 33:14. UVA’s defense had seven tackles for loss for 42 yards. Virginia finished with two sacks, setting a single-season program record for team sacks. UVA now has 45 sacks on the season. The previous record was 43 by the 2007 team.

UVA QB Bryce Perkins passed for 266 yards, becoming only the second quarterback to throw for 3,000+ yards in a season, joining Kurt Benkert (3,207; 2017). Perkins broke Benkert’s UVA single-season passing record in the fourth quarter. Perkins owns the UVA single-season passing record with 3,215 yards. With 58 rushing yards, Perkins passed “Bullet” Bill Dudley (1,631) for No. 1 on UVA’s career rushing list by a quarterback. Perkins now has 1,668 career rushing yards.

Some Numbers

Perkins is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 7 in the nation with 3,960 total offense yards. He owns the top two total offense games in the ACC this season with a school record 490 at North Carolina and 475 against Virginia Tech. Perkins is one of two players in the nation, joining Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, to pass for 3,000+ yards and rush for 700+ yards so far this season. Perkins is the only player in all of FBS since the start of the 2018 season to pass for 5,200+ yards (5,895) and rush for 1,500+ yards (1,668).

The Wahoos have arguably the best return man in the country in senior Joe Reed. He leads the nation with a 34.7 kick return average. On deep kickoffs to inside the five-yard line, Reed has returned 13 kicks for an average of 41.5 yards per kickoff return. He is the only player in the nation with 22 or fewer kick returns to go with 700+ kick return yards. Reed has 70 receptions and 627 receiving yards to go with six touchdowns. He is the only player in the nation with 600+ receiving yards (627) and 600+ kick return yards (764).

Florida vs Virginia Orange Bowl Betting Trends

• Gators are 10-2 SU in their last 12 games this season
• Gators are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games when playing as the favorite
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida’s last 6 games played in December
• Cavaliers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
• Cavaliers are 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games when playing as the underdog
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Virginia’s last 7 games this season

Expert Final Score Prediction for Florida vs Virginia

Florida 37 – Virginia 20