CFB Odds: The defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Florida State Seminoles look as dangerous as ever with 13 starters and 40 lettermen returning led by Heisman Trophy Winner Jameis Winston. The Oklahoma State Cowboys blew the Big 12 Conference championship on their home field to their intrastate rival Oklahoma Sooners and have lost several key components off of that team that make their prospects for 2014 highly questionable.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys will face the Florida State Seminoles at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, on Saturday night with coverage on ABC starting at 8 PM ET. BetDSI opened with Florida State as a 17.5 point favorite.
Locked and Loaded
Fifth year Coach Jimbo Fisher has stocked the Florida State roster with top shelf talent and some of the highest ranked recruiting classes in the country. The Seminoles have gone 26-2 the past two seasons proving that with Fisher they reload instead of rebuild. Winston had an insane 184.8 QB rating in 2013 and the defense has kept opponents held to 15 points per game or less the past three seasons. The Seminoles have been a virtual ATM machine in neutral site games with a mark of 12-3 against the spread and have gone 13-6 ATS in non-conference games. Florida State covered four out of five games as a favorite away from home in 2013.
Who Are these Guys?
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have just four starters returning on each side of the line and just 38 total lettermen return. JW Welsh will take over at QB where he has plenty of in-game experience as a part time starter. Three out of the top four Oklahoma State receivers are gone as is QB Clint Chelf, last year’s starter. But receiver is one position that 10th year head coach Mike Gundy has stocked with quality depth. The defense showed improvement last year in cutting seven points per game off their total but was still not strong enough to become a reliable asset. The 28 departed seniors put together the best four year record in OSU history.
Our Pick
There are too many new Cowboys to rope in a possible cover here, let alone pull off the upset, and Florida State gets our call.
