The Manny Diaz era at Miami gets underway on Saturday night when the Miami Hurricanes take on the No. 8 Florida Gators at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. It's the first game of the 150th season of college football. Diaz, a defensive assistant at several schools for almost two decades and the Hurricanes' defensive coordinator the last three seasons, was named Miami's head coach in December after Mark Richt unexpectedly resigned. Diaz takes over a team that went 7-6 last season and fell to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Hurricanes will face a Gators team that won its final three games last season by 26 points or more and returns a plethora of skill position talent on offense. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Gators are favored by seven in the latest Florida vs. Miami odds, while the over-under for total points scored is 46, down one from the opener. Before locking in any Florida vs. Miami picks of your own, you need to see who SportsLine's Mike Tierney is picking. 

No one knows football like Tierney. The veteran sportswriter, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, has covered college football of all levels for decades. And that expertise has been evident since he joined SportsLine in 2017. Over the last two seasons, he has gone 96-79-4 on college football against the spread picks. Last season was his best at 59-46-3. 

In addition, he's on a combined 7-0 run on spread picks involving these teams. He is 4-0 in his last four picks involving the Gators and 3-0 in his last three picks involving the Hurricanes. Anyone who has followed him has reaped huge rewards.

Now, he has analyzed Miami vs. Florida from every possible angle and locked in a confident against the spread pick. It's available only at SportsLine.

Tierney has factored in that junior Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks is poised to take the next step this season. Entering his second year under the tutelage of offensive mastermind and Gators coach Dan Mullen, Franks should only build off a 2018 season in which he passed for 2,457 yards with 24 touchdowns. He also ran for 350 yards and a team-high tying seven scores. His 2018 season was, statistically, the best by a Florida quarterback in almost a decade.

Tierney also has taken into account that the Gators' defensive line will have a noticeable edge against Miami's offensive line. The Hurricanes will start two freshmen at offensive tackle: true freshman Zion Nelson at left tackle and redshirt freshman John Campbell at right tackle. They will go up against a Florida unit that returns three starters from last season, including first team preseason All-SEC defensive end Jabari Zuniga, who has 104 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks in three seasons.

But just because the Gators return plenty of offensive production does not guarantee they will cover the Miami vs. Florida spread.

Tierney has factored in that the Hurricanes' defensive line has the edge over an inexperienced offensive line of the Gators. Junior end Jonathan Garvin, one of five returning Power Five players to have at least 17 tackles for loss last season, and senior tackle Pat Bethel return as starters on the defensive line. They'll be going up against a Florida unit that has to replace four of five starters.

Tierney also has considered that few defensive minds should know the Gators' offense better than Diaz. The new Hurricanes coach served as Mullen's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Mississippi State in 2010 and in 2015. Last season, under Diaz's guidance, Miami ranked No. 1 in the country in passing yards allowed per game (135.6) and No. 4 in total yards allowed per game (278.9).

We can tell you Tierney is leaning under, but his much stronger play is on the spread. He's found a critical x-factor that makes one side of the spread hit hard on Saturday. He's sharing what it is, and which side to to back, only at SportsLine.

Who wins Florida vs. Miami? And what critical x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Florida vs. Miami spread you should be all over Saturday, all from the football expert who is 7-0 in picks involving the Gators and Hurricanes.