The lines released by the boys in Vegas reflect a premium being paid to wager on the Seminoles.
The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released eight lines involving Florida State Friday as part of its Games Of The Year promotion.
Florida State -17 v. Oklahoma State: This line has been stable for quite a while as a number of casinos on the internet have released their lines. Oklahoma State lost more important players to graduation, the NFL and transfers than any in the country, and FSU returns a ton of experienced talent.
Clemson at Florida State -17: If this game were later in the year, I'd lay off. But since it is early in the year, and Clemson has so many new pieces on offense, I simply cannot back the Tigers. The real play here might be the under as Clemson's defense figures to be one of the nation's best, and people will still think of Clemson as an offensive team.
Florida State -30 at N.C. State: N.C. State should be much improved from a year ago, and this is the week after FSU wraps up the division against Clemson, so there is definitely a chance for a bit of a letdown in terms of covering the spread. 30 seems a bit steep, no?
Florida State -21 at Syracuse: I am not a fan of Syracuse's program and the talent it has. While this is certainly a look-ahead situation with Notre Dame on deck, there might be some value on FSU. Syracuse simply cannot throw and FSU will stuff the box again and let the best secondary in the country do its thing without much help.
Notre Dame at Florida State -24: This is the one game where I really want to go against Florida State. Notre Dame has recruited extremely well under Bryan Kelly, and the program has been on a sharp climb overall, even having a decent year after losing its quarterback to a suspension. This seems too steep.
Florida State -17 at Louisville: I am not that high on Louisville, and think that FSU will be able to handle them on a road Thursday night contest, because it is coming off of a bye. But 17 is quite steep.
Florida State -14.5 at Miami: Florida State all day here. Miami is not that good, 2014 is supposed to be a bit of a valley year between the peaks of 2013 and 15, and FSU matches up very well with the Hurricanes. Miami has not won a home game against FSU since 2004 (this is not all that relevant, but it is interesting), in part because FSU's huge alumni base buys up half of the tickets for the game every other season. This is more of a neutral site game than a road game.
Florida at Florida State -17: If you bet this now, you're crazy. Will this team have quit on lame duck coach Will Muschamp by then? Or do they get lucky like 2012, come in with a lot of confidence and pair it with a very good defense? Too much potential volatility to make a wage on this right now.