FSU Basketball: Will Noles cover the spread against Duke?

FSU basketball will be taking on No. 1 ranked Duke Saturday at the Tuck Center. Will the Noles be able to cover the betting spread?

No. 13 FSU basketball (13-2, 1-1 ACC) is entering the final game of a tough three game stretch in the opening week of ACC play as they’ll be taking on the Duke Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 ACC) in the Tucker Center Saturday.

The Noles are coming off a much-needed win over a scrappy Miami team Wednesday night. Duke is coming off another blowout win as they dismantled Wake Forest in their last outing Tuesday night.

They’ll have an extra day of rest playing the day before, but they do have to travel to Tallahassee for the game.

Duke comes into the game as a seven point betting favorite which is less than the spread against No. 4 Virginia last week.

Of course, FSU was dismantled against Virginia as it was a bad matchup stylistically. However, this ‘Noles team matches up better against Duke than Virginia not to mention the Virginia game was a road game.

Will the Noles cover the spread?

When it comes to statistics the Blue Devils dominate in almost every category. They average 12 more ppg and give up three less ppg and shoot better from the field while averaging nearly eight more rebounds.

They also average nearly five more blocks than the Noles, but surprisingly shoot the three-point shot about the same.

The only advantage the Noles have other than overall team experience is free throw shooting at 73 percent compared to Duke at 66 percent.

If you follow my betting posts for college football you know what I mean when I say the spread looks too good to be true(meaning Duke will cover).

Duke holds the edge in almost every major category, yet the Noles are only seven point underdogs?

FSU does play usually play very well at the Tuck Center, but this is one of those games everyone expects them to get blowed out after how they performed against a top ranked team last week.

Usually that’s when teams in the ACC decide to show up and make a lot of people lose money. I’m not saying FSU basketball beats Duke Saturday, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in this game late or even cover the spread.