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Football starts for real Saturday night with a pair of college football attractions that will tempt sports bettors across the full range of U.S. time zones.

First, No. 8 Florida takes on in-state rival Miami on a neutral field in Orlando (ESPN, 7 p.m). That’s followed by Arizona at Hawaii (CBS Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.).

Influential bettors left Gators-Hurricanes sitting at Florida -7¹/₂ most of the summer — interesting because seven’s a key number, a common final result in football games. Sharps finally did start taking the hook late Thursday night when a chance for wet, breezy conditions — underdog weather — became more likely. Monitor Saturday’s line moves and weather forecasts. The public probably will bet a top 10 team at a touchdown or less.

The Over/Under has moved, dropping from 50¹/₂ to 47. This suggests skepticism that Miami’s experienced offense will be able to get many points on the board against Florida’s aggressive and talented defense. Rather than asking the Gators to win a rivalry blowout, sharps were more comfortable asking defenses to rule.

There wasn’t much early interest in Arizona-Hawaii. The Wildcats are -11 with the total lined at 74. That’s a projected shootout with Arizona’s target at 42.5 points, Hawaii’s at 31.5. If you’re going to bet and watch, make plans to stay up really late. Or, set your DVRs to also record the show airing after the game. This one’s going to run long.

Though Florida has cracked the preseason top 10, the Gators are still a long shot to win the grueling Southeastern Conference (12/1 at William Hill), or the national championship (40/1). Miami is a distant 100/1 to qualify for and win the playoff. But, the Hurricanes are only 10/1 to win the watered-down Atlantic Coast Conference, where Clemson is a heavy favorite at 1/6 (-600 on the money line).

That tells you something about the differences in conference quality. Florida is fourth on the SEC ladder (behind Alabama -180, Georgia 13/5, and LSU 10/1), but is still laying slightly more than a touchdown on a neutral field over the projected second-best team in the ACC.

Reality still has an SEC bias in college football when you’re talking about depth of quality.

Arizona and Hawaii are way off the national radar. The hosts are 25/1 to win the Mountain West, while the visitors from the desert are 30/1 to win the Pac-12.

Should bettors attack either game? College football season openers are very dicey. Many teams are breaking in new personnel. There’s no way to know how sharp offensive or defensive units have been in practice. Analysts will have a much better read on all teams after one game than they will before any are played (Though, “in-game” bettors can learn from the first half when betting the second half).

It’s best to focus your efforts on teams that return the same head coach and a lot of experienced high-impact talent. Then, use debut performances to learn what you can about strengths and weaknesses.