Florida Football: Las Vegas releases early point spreads for 6 games on Gators schedule

With less than 60 days until the Billy Napier era kicks off in Gainesville, the Las Vegas oddsmakers have released point spreads for six of the 12 regular-season games in 2022. The Florida Gators are coming off a disappointing 6-6 year that included losses versus Kentucky, South Carolina and Missouri.

Vegas has the point spreads for the games versus Utah, Texas A&M, LSU, Kentucky, Georgia and Florida State so far.

The Gators start the season with a +1.5 spread versus the Utes, making the game one of the most competitive of Week 1. Playing again at home versus Kentucky in Week 2, Florida is -4 versus the Will Levis-led Wildcats.

After two more non-conference games and two SEC games, the Gators face LSU at home on Oct. 15. The spread is three points in favor of the Orange and Blue.

In the Cocktail Party, Florida is an early +15 versus the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 29.

On Nov. 5, the Gators travel to College Station for a cross-division matchup versus Texas A&M where the spread is +7.

The final of the spreads out has UF +2 versus their in-state rivals in Tallahassee on Nov. 25. Despite a rough go overall in 2021, the Gators were able to handle the Seminoles 24-21 last season.

Altogether, the Gators are the oddsmakers’ favorites in two of the six games with early spreads.

Napier reveals feelings about Gators playing Utah in season opener

Billy Napier has a tough opponent in his first game as Gators head coach when Utah comes to The Swamp in Week 1. It won’t be easy, which is exactly why he thinks that makes for a good opening game.

Napier, during an interview on 1010XL, said having the Utes to start the year is a good thing. They’re coming off an impressive 10-4 season that ended with a Rose Bowl shootout against Ohio State and have finished over .500 the last eight seasons. That consistency is something Napier said makes Utah a formidable opponent and provides a good example as he tries to build the program.

“I do believe that, in my experience, it’s healthy to have a formidable opponent in the opener,” Napier said. “Certainly, Utah, we have so much respect for them in terms of the stability, the consistency. They had probably one of their best teams ever last year. This is a very stable program. They built it. They’ve been probably, in my opinion, the most consistent team in the Pac-12 and I respect the brand of football that they play. They present a number of challenges for you on offense, defense and in the kicking game.

“It’s going to be a challenge and I think it’s healthy for our players to have respect. Maybe that affects their detail, their discipline along the way. I’m hopeful that it does. But eventually, around here, we’d like to build a culture and a program where it’s all about us and how we prepare and if we can control what we can control, we can go play with confidence and do our very best. … Utah, as the caliber program they have, we look forward to that challenge.”

The game is going to have quite the prime-time treatment, too. It will be a 7 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN, which means Napier will make his Gators debut in front of a national audience.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.