3 Things Bettors Should Know for Notre Dame vs. Florida State

On the night that the late Bobby Bowden is set to be honored at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, the college football world will see if Florida State, at least for one night, can turn back the clock and perhaps play like their powerhouse days of old.

It won't be easy; as the Seminoles welcome the No. 9 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Tallahassee Sunday evening. The Irish come in as seven point favorites over at WynnBET Sportsbook, with the total hovering around 53.5 points. ABC will carry the game with kickoff taking place at 7:30 pm ET.

With bettors zoning in on the matchup as the standalone game of the night, here are three things to know about tonight's matchup before you place a wager. For a complete betting preview as well as pick on Sunday's game, BetSided's Donnavan Smoot breaks down the matchup in detail here.

No. 9 Notre Dame (-7) vs. Florida State | TOTAL: 53.5

Notre Dame travels well on the road, as well as covers

The Irish have been a very solid group under Brian Kelly as of late when it comes to success against the spread, especially on the road. The Irish in 2020 went 3-1-0 against the spread (ATS), and are 5-1-0 ATS in road games over their last six.

Since 2017, Notre Dame has gone 11-6-1 ATS as the away team; good enough for 16th best in the country.

The Seminoles will need to end multiple streaks on Sunday

Via ESPN, Florida State will need to get a couple of monkeys off its back if it not only plans to beat Notre Dame, but even just cover the seven-point spread.

The Seminoles have gone 0-4 ATS and 0-4 SU in their last four season openers. All the matchups were outright home losses too; falling 16-13 to Georgia Tech last season, 36-31 vs. Boise State in 2019, 24-3 against Virginia Tech in Tallahassee in 2018, and 24-7 vs. Alabama at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2017.

Furthermore, Florida State has lost their last six games ATS vs. non-conference teams. If it's going to upset Notre Dame, it'll need to pull themselves out a major opening funk.

Florida State needs to score at least 24 points to win

Last season, the Seminoles struggled to find much of an offensive rhythm, and when they couldn't get it going on offense, their defense simply couldn't keep up. In the five games Florida State failed to score at least 24 points, it lost every game.

WynnBET projects Florida State to score only 23 points tonight with the over slightly favored at -120 odds (bet $120 to win $100). The Irish expected to get to 30 (-120 on the over). Ultimately, as long as they give up less than seven less points more than what they score, their final offensive total is irrelevant for bettors taking Florida State at -7.

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