Florida vs Vanderbilt Odds & Prediction: The 1H Bet to Make

Florida and Vanderbilt close their regular seasons on the hardwood Saturday night in an SEC showdown in Nashville.

The Gators have had a strong surge down the stretch to stay in the hunt for a double-bye in the SEC tournament. Meanwhile, this has been a disappointing campaign for the Commodores, who own just eight wins.

You always have to question the motivation of both teams in a game like this, but I expect the visitors to have a strong start to push for a higher seed in the postseason.

Let's dive into the Florida Gators vs. Vanderbilt Commodores odds and make a prediction for Saturday's SEC college basketball showdown.

In his second year with the program, head coach Todd Golden has significantly improved the Gators. Florida has exceeded last year’s win total overall, and it'll be dancing.

Golden also has his squad playing its best basketball at the right time. The Gators have won 10 of their last 13, with the only losses all coming on the road against Texas A&M, Alabama and South Carolina.

Another reason to be excited for March as a Florida fan is the dynamic backcourt duo of Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin. Clayton paces the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game in SEC play to go along with 2.9 3-pointers per contest.

Meanwhile, Pullin’s numbers are even more impressive. He averages 16.5 points and 4.8 assists per game, while shooting 44% from beyond the arc and 88% from the free-throw line.

After consecutive trips to the NIT quarterfinals, things haven't gone to plan for head coach Jerry Stackhouse in his fifth year with the program.

One issue has been how unlucky Stackhouse’s squad has been with the injury bug. Four of the Commodores’ presumed starters entering the season have missed at least one game.

In total, Vanderbilt’s expected starting five played a grand total of 12.5 minutes together this season, which was in one start against Texas Tech.

Of those still healthy, Ven-Allen Lubin has played well recently. He's scored in double figures in nine of his last 11 games.

Over this stretch, the sophomore from Orlando has averaged 13.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He’ll need to have another big performance in this one.

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Ultimately, you have to decide what you think is the best way to bet against this Vanderbilt team. I do feel the full-game odds are about right, but I do see a play for the opening period.

So, my best bet is for Florida to cover the first-half spread at -6 or better, which will get posted on gameday after this article is released.

The Commodores have been one of the slowest-starting squads in the country. On the year, they rank 339th in average first-half margin at -6.1.

In SEC play, Vanderbilt has been losing at halftime in six of eight home games, with an average deficit of -8.25.

Meanwhile, the opposite can be said about Florida. The Gators come into this one ranked 14th in the nation in the same statistic.

I also expect Golden’s squad to have success offensively. According to Bart Torvik, Vanderbilt is last in the SEC on defense in home league games in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, EFG D, PPP and opponent percentages shooting inside and outside the arc.

This isn't good going up against a Florida offense that's inside the top two in the conference in both Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 3-point percentage. The Gators also rank 33rd by KenPom in tempo, which has given the Commodores issues this year.

With Golden’s team needing a win to secure a double-bye in the SEC tournament, I wouldn’t expect a lack of motivation in this one, especially from the start.

Pick: Florida 1H -6 or Better