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This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Florida State Seminoles. FSU lost its top three players this offseason and was expected to have a middling year after being one of the better teams in the conference the last few seasons. However, Leonard Hamilton has shown why he is considered one of the best defensive coaches in the game. The defense is one of the best in the country and that has led this team to an 11-1 record. Now, we will see just how good the Seminoles are when they take on the Duke Blue Devils.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, December 30, 2017, at 2 p.m. ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The game will be televised live on CBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
For as good as the Blue Devils have been this season, they are 0-1 in conference play after being upset by Boston College three weeks ago. Still, this team is the favorite to win it all at this point in the year and already has wins over Michigan State, Texas, and Florida. Duke is 8-3 ATS this year thanks to a dynamic offense that has a plethora of options. That has led to 10 of Duke’s 11 games going over the total.
Florida State has been one of the better teams to bet on this season. The Seminoles haven’t played the toughest schedule, but have punished opponents and even picked up their fourth straight win over arch rival Florida. FSU is current 8-2 ATS on the year and hammered Southern Miss by 53 points in its last game before the Christmas break.
Matchup to Watch
It’s going to be riveting to see what Duke does to try to have success against Florida State’s defense. The Blue Devils have the second-best scoring offense in the nation. Freshmen forwards Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter, Jr. have been very difficult for opposing teams to shut down this season due to their ability to play inside or along the perimeter.
Bagley and Carter are both hitting over 61 percent of their field goals this season and have showed off a whole range of skill. Each player can shoot from range and bang the rock inside too. The duo has combined to grab a little more than 19 rebounds per game this year and are a big reason why the Blue Devils are one of the top rebounding teams in the country.
Florida State is playing great defense this season. The Seminoles are fifth in the country in opponent effective field goal percentage and that has helped this team shine. Hamilton has always been great at coaching defense and his teams typically have great interior defenders. That has definitely been true this year.
Player to Watch
Terance Mann is FSU’s do-it-all guard and has paced this offense. Mann is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder and is tied for second on the team in assists too. He has been superb this season, coming up big against FSU’s toughest opponents. Mann had great outings against Florida and Oklahoma State and was virtually unstoppable in both games.
His size gives him a physical advantage over most guards that are matched against him and he uses that to his benefit. Mann doesn’t take many threes and prefers to just drive to the basket instead. He is hitting 63.7 percent of his shots this season, one of the best numbers in the country for a guard.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Duke has one of the best home field advantages in the country. The Cameron Crazies will be going nuts for their first conference game and the Blue Devils will be favored by 8-10 in this one. Florida State has made a habit of playing Duke tough in recent years, and I expect them to cover the number.
College Basketball Odds: Duke 78, Florida State 73
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