Florida State Win-Total Prediction
Can Florida State get back to being the leader in the ACC this season and push for a national championship?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Florida State is listed with 17/2 odds to win the College Football Playoffs this season. The Seminoles also have -110 odds to win the ACC while their over/under total for wins is listed at 95. The over is set at -150, while the under is listed at +120.
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Jimbo Fisher is entering his eighth season as head coach of Florida State. He has amassed a 78-17 record in his time with the Seminoles, including a national championship in 2013. Fisher has won double-digit games in all but one season with FSU. His team is coming off a second consecutive 10-3 record in 2016. FSU went just 5-3 in ACC play as well.
Florida State had the 27th-ranked offense in the 2016 season, averaging 35.1 points and 466 yards per game. That was with a freshman quarterback in Deondre Francois, who threw for 3,350 yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The focus will be more on him this year as a sophomore since FSU lost Dalvin Cook, a 1,765-yard rusher in 2016, in the backfield. The team is hoping Jacques Patrick can step up and take over the lead rusher role. He had 350 yards on 61 carries last season. Cook was also a threat in the pass game, as he finished second in receiving with 33 receptions for 488 yards. FSU also loses its leading receiver in Travis Rudolph, who caught 56 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, FSU wasn’t too bad, allowing just 24.4 points and 357 yards per game. The unit lost their top player in DeMarcus Walker, who went on to the NFL. Walker had 16 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss last season. However, Brian Burns returns and he had 9.5 sacks last season. Josh Sweat, who had seven sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, also returns. Tavarus McFadden, who had eight interceptions a year ago, left to leave a hole in the secondary.
Florida State will find out where it stands right away, as it opens the season against Alabama on Sept. 2 from the Mercedez-Benz Dome in Atlanta. The Seminoles also face UL Monroe and Delaware State in non-conference play while finishing up the regular season at Florida in the annual rivalry game. ACC home games this year include Miami, N.C. State, Louisville and Syracuse while road trips will be made to Wake Forest, Duke, Boston College and Clemson. FSU has a tough schedule. It’s hard to see the Seminoles beating Bama right off the bat, but I think it can be the class of the ACC if it can beat Louisville on Oct. 21. I expect Clemson to take a step back this season, so a road trip there shouldn’t be as difficult as it has been in recent years. FSU should maintain one of the best defenses in the ACC and Francois could be ready to take that next step as a quarterback. If he can establish himself as the clear leader, FSU should easily get to 10 wins. I think he will and FSU will be a playoff team this year.
2017 WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: FLORIDA STATE OVER 9.5 (-150)