The Florida State Seminoles take on the Syracuse Orange. Check out our college football odds series for our Florida State Syracuse prediction and pick.
The Florida State Seminoles were able to vent a lot of frustrations in their most recent game. They unleashed a big ball of fury in a 45-3 win over the Miami Hurricanes. For all the times Florida State has failed to beat Miami in recent years, it decided to extract some payback by hammering Mario Cristobal's Canes. It was a sweet moment in a bumpy, up-and-down season for head coach Mike Norvell, whose team won a few very close games early in the season against LSU and Louisville and was fortunate to dig out those two wins. Then Florida State lost three consecutive games to a bunch of teams widely acknowledged as being better than the Seminoles: Wake Forest, North Carolina State, and Clemson. Now Florida State is trying to salvage its season with a strong push which can merit a better bowl bid. Florida State is still trying to build itself back as a program. Winning a game like this — against a Syracuse team which started the season 6-0 — would do a lot to restore and reaffirm this Seminole season.
Syracuse, as noted above, had that amazing 6-0 start and will go to a bowl game this year. That's better than a lot of people expected. To a certain degree, head coach Dino Babers has exceeded what many people felt he would achieve this year. If he did begin the year on the hot seat, that seat is a lot cooler now.
However: After going 6-0 and barely losing to Clemson, Syracuse probably expected to be a lot better than it has been over the past three weeks. The Orange have dropped three straight games, falling to Clemson, Notre Dame, and then Pittsburgh. It certainly seems that the Clemson loss took all the passion and confidence out of this team. Syracuse has looked deflated since then, not playing with the same physicality or force which marked the 6-0 start. One can point out that Syracuse's win over North Carolina State earlier in the year was the product of the Devin Leary injury — he didn't play for the Wolfpack — but Syracuse really did look like a good team in the first three quarters of the Clemson game. It's a real thing in college football for teams to suffer crushing losses and not get over the pain for a few weeks. Syracuse has to get past the pain of the Clemson loss in this battle with Florida State.
Here are the Florida State-Syracuse NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Florida State-Syracuse Odds
Florida State Seminoles: -7.5 (+100)
Syracuse Orange: +7.5 (-122)
Over: 50.5 (-115)
Under: 50.5 (-105)
Why Florida State Could Cover the Spread
The Seminoles have to be feeling great about themselves after crushing archrival Miami by 42 on the road. That game might wind up snapping back this team into a focused, clear-eyed state. It's just what the team needed, and it should carry into this game.
Why Syracuse Could Cover the Spread
The Orange have not gotten over the Clemson game, but after three weeks, one would think the fog will lift and this team will get back to playing the football it played early in the season. A supportive home crowd should give this team a much-needed lift against an inconsistent FSU squad.
Final Florida State-Syracuse Prediction & Pick
Syracuse's offense is a total mess. Florida State should win handily because Syracuse will not score big against the Noles.
Final Florida State-Syracuse Prediction & Pick: Florida State -7.5
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