College Basketball Odds - Notre Dame vs. Florida State Game Preview

The No. 3 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish and No. 2 seed Florida State Seminoles will get to settle the score once and for all on Friday night when the teams collide in the semifinals with a trip to the ACC tournament title game on the line. These teams split their two matchups in the regular season with each holding serve on their home floor. With this game being held on a neutral floor, we’ll now get to see which of these conference heavyweights reigns supreme.

At 9 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Friday, March 10, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on Friday’s college basketball schedule.

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Notre Dame was faced with the exact same scenario it faces tonight with it splitting with the Virginia Cavaliers in the regular season. Mike Brey’s kids proved to be the better of the two clubs by a longshot after throttling the Wahoos 71-58 as 3.5 point underdogs. They wasted no time in letting it be known who was the more dominant team by getting out to a 32-26 halftime lead and then building it to near 20 points in the second half before settling for the 13 point win. The triumph moved the Irish to 3-2 straight up and against the spread on a neutral court.

Florida State came from out of nowhere to take the ACC by storm this season. Leonard Hamilton’s squad won 25 of 32 games and proved to be a solid moneymaker in covering at a 17-11-2 clip. They had the benefit of taking on a Virginia Tech side in the quarters that had to put forth a Herculean effort in the second half just to get by Wake Forest the previous night. While the Hokies went blow for blow with the Noles through the first 20 minutes, their balloon popped in the second half allowing FSU to seize control of the game. The 74-68 win moved them to 4-1 straight up and 2-3 against the spread on neutral courts.

Key Stat

159.5 - These teams split their season rivalry with the Noles picking up an 83-80 non-covering win at home, and the Fighting Irish avenging it with an 84-72 win and cover back in South Bend. As you can see, neither defense excelled with both games combining to average a tick under 160 points per game. Much of that had to do with both offenses having no issue knocking down its shots. ND averaged shooting 47.9 percent and Florida State 48.5 percent.

Players to Watch

It was a tail of two games for both team’s star big men. Jonathan Isaac was the star in the Noles home win going off for 23 points and snatching 10 rebounds to lead his club in both categories. When the matchup shifted to South Bend, it was Bonzie Colson that amazed with 33 points and 13 rebounds. The latter helped lead the Irish to the dominant win over Virginia with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while the former was more a defensive force against the Hokies with 11 points, 12 rebounds and a couple blocks. We’re likely to get the best from both this evening, but whichever has the bigger game will likely help lead his team to the dub.

Free College Basketball ATS Pick

I’m interested to see how the Noles handle playing on back-to-back nights against a team that was one of only two to give them a scare in their home gym where they won all 18 of their games played. Away from their own hardwood, FSU has been extremely beatable in winning just three of their nine true road games. While they’ve proven to be competent on neutral floors, the toughest opponent they faced on one occurred last night against the Hokies.

Notre Dame is the more experienced of the two teams, and I trust its upper classmen more than I do any of the young up and coming Noles. The Irish are by far the better overall free throw shooting team, and if this game ultimately comes down to freebies, they hold an enormous edge there.

College Basketball Odds: Notre Dame 78, Florida State 75

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