Florida State vs Georgia Tech Odds
Posted by Steve Janus - Google+
This Saturday the No. 13 Florida State Seminoles will go on the road to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the 2012 Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 EST at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and will be televised nationally on ESPN. Oddsmakers currently have Florida State favored by 14-points with the total set at 63.5 points.
Why Florida State Will Cover
The Seminoles come into this game off a 26-37 home loss to in-state rival Florida. It was just the second loss all season for Florida State, as they finished up the regular season with a 10-2 overall record and 7-1 mark inside the ACC. This may seem like a lot of points in a conference championship game, but given how much of a gap there is between Florida State and Clemson in the ACC it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Their are two games I want to focus on that appears to give the Seminoles the edge in this matchup. Georgia Tech suffered three losses by more than two touchdowns this season and they all came against top notch opponents. The Yellow Jackets only conference loss by more than two scores came against Clemson (31-47), who is the only team in the ACC close to Florida State in terms of talent. The other two came against BYU (17-41) and Georgia (10-42). These two are what stand out to me. BYU and Georgia were without a doubt the two best defenses the Yellow Jackets faced all season and they couldn’t do anything.
Florida State comes into this game 7th in the country in scoring defense (15.1 ppg) and are 2nd in the nation in total defense (249.4). The big key is their strength has been a run defense that ranks 4th, allowing just 85.1 ppg. Not only have the Yellow Jackets struggled to put up points against top defenses, but they have struggled to slow down big time offenses. They are giving up 30.7 ppg (ranks 86th in the country) and six times this season they allowed their opponent to score more than 40 points. Considering that Florida State averages 41.5 ppg, you can see why they are favored by two scores.
Why Georgia Tech Will Cover
The Yellow Jackets certainly aren’t going to be a popular play in this game, especially after losing by 32-points against in-state rival Georgia this past weekend. I’m already showing about 70% of the public on Florida State in this game and whenever you that big much action on one side you have to be cautious. Oddsmakers are well aware of all the stats I mentioned above. Knowing that the public was going to jump all over the Seminoles, you have to believe they think the Yellow Jackets can cover this number.
I think a lot of people over-look the magnitude of this game and the amount of pressure that comes along with it. Florida State is a very good team don’t get me wrong, but you can’t ignore the fact that this team lost at NC State and struggled to put away a couple average teams in Miami and Virginia Tech.
I believe all the pressure is on Florida State in this game. Georgia Tech has to feel fortunate to even be in this situation. The Yellow Jackets have nothing to lose and everything to gain. That can sometimes be a very dangerous weapon, especially when that team is getting two touchdowns.
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