ESPN’s College GameDay shares LSU-Florida predictions, plus live Tiger thoughts

All but one member of ESPN’s “College GameDay” team predicted LSU would beat Florida on Saturday.

Desmond Howard started the broadcast’s segment on the SEC game with a prediction that the Gators will win at home, despite saying he’s not sure how close freshman quarterback DJ Lagway will be to full efficiency.

“He just might get LSU,” said the former Heisman winner at Michigan and Super Bowl champion with the Green Bay Packers. “I saw them last week against Alabama and that team, they just didn’t look good. So I’m going with the Gators if I had to pick a team.”

The rest of the commentators and celebrity guest voter Cody Rhodes, a professional wrestler in the WWE, each disagreed one by one, starting with former national championship LSU and Alabama coach Nick Saban.

The coach picked the Crimson Tide to win last week’s head-to-head, but said he expected the Tigers to respond on the road.

“I think this is a little bit of a gut check for LSU,” Saban said. “If they respond the right way, I think they’re better than Florida. I’m going with LSU.”

Pat McAfee, Rhodes, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit all followed suit

McAfee, the former West Virginia and Indianapolis Colts player, brought up the Tigers’ remaining chance to possibly reach the SEC Championship Game next month in Atlanta.

“I know they’re going to get a win over the Florida Gators today,” McAfee said, beginning to feign a Southern game. “And Gov. Jeff Landry still has an opportunity to put a live tiger in Mercedes-Benz Stadium if they reach the SEC championship.”

Corso pointed to LSU’s five-game winning streak against Florida and expected the streak to extend Saturday to six.

The Tigers and Gators are scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.