Gators Around SB Nation: Betting On Florida Football, Excusing Ryan Lochte

A new, hopefully daily feature rounding up the best of the SB Nation network's coverage of Florida: Because people who are not us write about the Gators, too!

Bet on Florida, make some money

Some people gamble on college sports! (I know, you're shocked.) If you're one of them, good news for you, because our buddy Bud Elliott has a list of the best SEC lines for this season, and Florida's on it.

The Gators have a ton of winnable games, and quite a few losable contests as well. Florida will likely be favored by less than a touchdown at Texas A&M, at Tennessee and vs. South Carolina. They'll likely be underdogs of less than a touchdown against LSU, against Georgia and at Florida State. Games at Vanderbilt and hosting Missouri should see the Gators be favored by fewer than 10, but more than seven. The slate also features three non-conference cupcakes and a contest against what might be the worst SEC team, Kentucky.

If Florida can go 4-0 against the non-conference trio of patsies and Kentucky, all it needs to do is win four of the remaining eight listed above. That means winning the games in which it's favored, or dropping one and pulling an upset. I give Florida a 75 percent chance to win at least eight games, making this a play, even at (-175).

I think a 75 percent chance is a pretty fair assessment of the situation, but I'm also not betting any money on college sports.

Ryan Lochte's Olympics was probably a success in one sense

You have to make it through some talk about Lolo Jones to get there, but Bomani Jones addresses Ryan Lochte's alternative means of winning at the end of the latest Bomani & Jones. All I'm saying is that I'd date an Antarctican.

Michael Phelps, finally human

A great piece from Matt Ufford on Michael Phelps finally getting humanized by London touches on how Lochte's storyline changed over the week in the pool.

The "Lochte as king of American swimming" story line started showing cracks the next night, when Phelps swam the fastest split for the American team in the 4x100 relay, while Lochte, the U.S. anchor, was chased down by Yannick Agnel of France, leaving the Americans with silver.

Lochte and Phelps would next team up to win gold in the 4x200 free relay; it would prove to be Lochte's final win of the Games -- and the first of Phelps's four. Lochte finished fourth in the 200 free, took bronze in the 200 backstroke, then -- just 30 minutes after the back final -- took the silver behind Phelps in the 200 IM for the third consecutive Olympics. As Lochte faded under the physical toll of so many races, Phelps grew stronger.

But you know what's nice? Lochte's never had to worry about people thinking he's a mindless swim-bot.