College Basketball ACC Clash Free Picks: Florida State Vs North Carolina
Posted by Eric Williams on Friday,January 13, 2017 4:42, EDT in
The incendiary ninth-ranked Florida State Seminoles will look to keep their impressive 12-game winning streak going when they hit the road to take on the 11th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in huge ACC clash that will reveal a lot about both teams as conference play begins across the country.
Now, let’s find out if the Seminoles can get the big road win against their longtime rivals. Find out more about the latest betting lines here.
A Closer Look At The College Basketball ACC Clash Free Picks: Seminoles Vs Tar Heels
When: Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 2:00 PM ET
Where: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV: ESPN
Why Bet on Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles (11-4 ATS) are a great team to bet on because they have just as much talent as the Tar Heels and more motivation to get their first road win against the Heels since 2010. The Noles have handful of gifted players including sophomore Dwayne Bacon, a player that has scored in double figures in a whopping 26 consecutive games and leads the Seminoles in scoring at 17.8 points per game.
Florida State looked mostly phenomenal in their convincing 88-72 smackdown over No. 7 Duke on Tuesday while placing four players in double figures in scoring and getting a team-high 21 points from senior guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes. More importantly, Florida State ranks a stellar 13th in scoring nationally by putting up 86.7 points per game while ranking n even more impressive sixth in field goal shooting percentage (50.8 %).
Why Bet on North Carolina Tar Heels
The best reason to bet on the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-7-1 ATS) is that they’ve gone 8-0 at home this season and have as much talent as any hoops program in the country. Not only that, but averages a whopping 89.3 points per game to rank a stupendous sixth in scoring nationally.
Carolina has won three straight after getting stunned by Georgia Tech 75-63 on the final day of 2016. The Heels got by Wake Forest 93-87 on Wednesday by placing all five starters in double digits and getting a team-high 19 points from forward Justin Jackson.
Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction
While Florida State has lost six straight to Carolina dating back to 2012, three of the last six meetings have been decided by six points or less, meaning the Noles have been able to keep it close against the Heels more often than most would have expected.
This time around, I’m going with Florida State to cover the spread at the very least, although I can easily see them beating the Heels outright. Florida State is 4-0 ATS over their last four games and 6-1 ATS in their last seven games following an SU win. The Seminoles have the better shooting team and have the edge on defense, turnovers and bench play as well.
While Florid State has been busy compiling an impressive 8-2 ATS mark over their last 10 games, Carolina has gone just 4-5 ATS over their last nine and 2-6 ATS over their last eight games following an SU win. With the road team in this ACC rivalry going 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings, I say back the Florida State Seminoles to get the easy ATS cover at the very least!
My final score prediction is Florida State 87 North Carolina 83
