Opportunity is still knocking for the Florida State Seminoles. They might be just 16-11 on the season, and they very well could drop to 16-12 on Thursday at Duke, but if they can beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at home and follow that up with a victory over Syracuse to end the regular season, they'll end up being favored to get into the field of 68.
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SCHEDULING
Notre Dame is playing its final road game in this one just three days after playing at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons shouldn't provide much of a test, but the Seminoles very well could. Live bettors have to remember that FSU is basically playing for its tourney life right now, and anything less than two wins in these last three games and at least one good win in the ACC Tournament in two weeks would send the Noles to the NIT.
KEY MATCHUP
The Seminoles always seem to have one of those awesome low post presences who can alter a game on both sides of the court. This year though, that just isn't the case. This is a four-guard team which all of a sudden has to outscore everyone to win, and games played in the 120s and 130s are generally losses.
That said, the key man in this one for live betting purposes is Zach Auguste, a man averaging a double-double per game at 14.0 points and 10.0 boards.
Auguste hasn't played particularly great basketball of late, scoring just 13 points with nine rebounds against Georgia Tech on the heels of scoring 11 points with 12 rebounds against Louisville. The numbers aren't bad, but this is the type of game where Auguste can really take over.
Go back to Florida State's game against North Carolina. Brice Johnson dominated that game by shooting 14-of-16 from the field with 39 points and 23 rebounds, and that really opened up the rest of the offense. The Seminoles were scrambling all over the place on defense trying to help out with everyone, and that's exactly the same situation they could be in on Saturday.
In spite of some recent offensive woes, it's worth remembering that the Fighting Irish still average 78.0 points per game, and live bettors will love their shooting efficiency at 48.4 percent from the field, 37.8 percent from deep and 73.4 percent from the charity stripe. All of that could come into play if Auguste goes off of Saturday on Boris Bojanovsky, the only real big man in Leonard Hamilton's rotation at this point.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
It's worth remembering that Notre Dame has lost three of its last four road games. The Irish were most recently beaten by Georgia Tech, a catastrophic loss that will probably take them down a full line in the pecking order for the NCAA Tournament come Selection Sunday.
Florida State enters this week on a four-game slide, the last two games of which were brutal losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Those are the types of games you have to win in conference play in order to dance. With things very likely not going well against Duke on Thursday, there's a good chance the Seminoles go into this game having failed to win or cover five games in a row.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The showdown between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Florida State Seminoles will start at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 27, 2016, at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN2.
