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Can the Florida State Seminoles Get Back Into the Top 10?

Two perennial college football powerhouses will meet in Orlando at the Cheez-It Bowl. Oklahoma, one of the nation’s top teams over the past few seasons, hasn’t had the season that many expected.

Coming in at 6-6 under first-year head coach Brent Venables, the Sooners won’t be finishing in the top 10 for the first time in seven seasons.

Oklahoma’s opponent, the Florida State Seminoles, is a program on the rebound. Mike Norvell’s squad is looking for their first 10-win season since 2016. With a win, the Seminoles could find themselves ranked inside the top 10 after all is said and done. 

Let’s take a look at each of the two participants in this year’s Cheez-It Bowl, and then we’ll give you our Oklahoma vs. Florida State prediction for your favorite betting on College Football.

Oklahoma Sooners

When Venables was named the head coach at Oklahoma, he knew he had his work cut out for him. Lincoln Riley, the former head coach who left for USC, took a lot of Oklahoma’s top players with him.

A lot of Oklahoma’s recruits also de-committed from the Sooner program. Venables worked hard to put together a very good class, but the Sooners program just couldn’t get things going this season.

In this one, Oklahoma will be without many key players, as they have chosen to opt-out of the bowl game. They’ll still have quarterback Dillon Gabriel. He should end the season with over 3,000 passing yards. Gabriel has thrown for 24 touchdowns and rushed for five more.

His top target, wide receiver Marvin Mims, plans on playing in this one. Tight end Brayden Willis, who has seven touchdown catches on the season, will be playing as well. The offensive line will be missing two starters, as they have opted not to play.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, they’ll be meeting a Florida State defense that is one of the top defenses in the country. With 34 sacks on the season, they can get after the quarterback. A weakened Oklahoma offense could be in for a long day against the strong Seminoles’ defense.

Florida State Seminoles

The Seminoles’ offense looks to have most of their key components in place for this one. Quarterback Jordan Travis looks to have all of his offensive weapons available, and that will be a bonus for one of the top-scoring offenses in the country.

They’ll be facing an Oklahoma defense that hasn’t lived up to expectations this season. Florida State should be able to move the ball on the Oklahoma defense and should be able to put some points on the board.

Prediction

Florida State comes into this one as a nine-point favorite. We expect to see both teams put points on the board; however, Florida State’s defense will be the difference in this one.

They’ll be able to get some key stops when needed. Oklahoma is missing too many key players, and they will struggle to stop Florida State’s high-powered offense.

The Seminoles win this one 37-24, thus covering the spread. Florida State should be a top-10 team after this one, as Mike Norvell is rebuilding the once-proud Florida State program.

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Oklahoma vs Florida State Game Info

• When: Thursday, December 29 at 5:30 PM EST
• Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando
• TV: ESPN

We are a few days into bowl season, and we hope that you have all managed to put a few extra bucks in your pocket. As we get closer to Christmas and New Year, the matchups begin to feature teams that most of us are a good deal more familiar with than the teams who play in the smaller bowls in the opening set of games. We certainly have what looks to be an intriguing matchup in the Cheez-It Bowl, which is set to go on December 29. We have the Oklahoma Sooners, who are coming off a very disappointing year, going against a Florida State team that finished the regular season on a great run of form and who will be playing very close to home. Given those details, it’s probably not surprising that the Seminoles are in as a 9 ½ point favorite. The point total for this one has been set at 65 ½.

Here is a preview for your NCAAF betting.

Why bet on the Oklahoma Sooners

Over the past few years, we have come to expect the Sooners to be in the mix for a playoff spot heading into the end of the regular season. This year, they managed to become bowl eligible with just 1 game to spare, eventually ending the season at 6-6, which is not nearly good enough for the fans of the Sooners. In fairness, they started the year with a new head coach after Lincoln Riley left for USC, so it’s probably not that surprising that there were some teething problems in Oklahoma. The Sooners still managed to rack up close to 33 PPH, while surrendering over 29 PPG, so things basically remained the same in that regard, as this is a team that has been involved in many shootouts over the past few seasons. Oklahoma went 2-7 ATS over their last 9 games and have seen the UNDER hit in 4 of their last 5 versus teams from the ACC.

Why bet on the Florida State Seminoles

With Clemson going 8-0 in conference play, it was always going to be impossible for the Seminoles to do enough to get to the ACC Conference Championship Game. They ended up going 5-3 in conference play, which helped them to a 9-3 record overall. It was how they finished the season that stands out, though, as they went on a 5-game win streak to close things out. Through the course of the season, the Seminoles average over 36 PPG, but they went better than that through their final 5 games of the year, where they averaged over 43 PPG. They also surrendered less than 20 PPG in the regular season. They are 10-1 SU in their last 11 as a favorite and have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5. The OVER has hit in 5 of their last 7 versus the Big 12.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

While Oklahoma has the firepower to hang with the Seminoles for a minute, I am more than a little concerned that their defense won’t be able to hold up their end of the bargain. I think Florida State pulls away to win and cover, with the OVER hitting, too.

Oklahoma Sooners 33 Florida State Seminoles 45

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