Utah vs. Florida predictions: Who did the experts pick?

Thursday night’s Utah vs. Florida game will be the perfect start to what should be just a great weekend of college football.

The Gators won last year’s matchup against Utah in Gainesville before the Utes went on to win the Pac-12 title for the second straight year. That first-game magic by Billy Napier was short-lived however as the Gators barely made a bowl game and finished the season 6-7.

Utah, on the other hand, continued to exceed expectations and show the country just why Kyle Whittingham is one of the nation’s most underrated coaches.

Now the two teams meet again, but this time in Salt Lake City.

I’m rolling with Utah even without Cameron Rising because of that atmosphere at Rice-Eccles, but who do the college football experts think will win this season-opening game?

Expert picks for Utah vs. Florida

I’m not sure just how the Utes will hold up if Rising is 100 percent out, but I do know that the home-field advantage for Utah accounts for at least a touchdown.

Do the experts agree?

• Athlon Sports: All three experts on Athlon (Steven Lassan, Joe Vitale, Luke Easterling) picked Utah to take Florida down on Thursday night.
• Hail Florida Hail: Will Thomas of FanSided’s Florida site picked the Gators to cover the +4.5 spread. Does that mean a win? Not sure.
• The Action Network: Cody Goggin picked Utah to win and cover -4.5 even without Rising and he said he’d even take the Utes -7 if the quarterback does play.
• CBS Sports: Barrett Sallee is one of the most respected college football experts out there and he picked Utah to cover -6.5.
• ESPN: Hardly an expert, but ESPN’s FPI model says that Utah has a 73.6% chance of winning.

The overwhelming opinion is that Utah is going to win, even if Rising doesn’t play.