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Syracuse vs. Florida State: College Football Week 7 Odds & Picks (2023)

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Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Saturday’s game: Syracuse vs. Florida State.

Top College Football Odds & Picks: Syracuse vs. Florida State

I will take the Seminoles in this game. Syracuse has been getting torched on defense. North Carolina just put up 644 yards on them – 442 passing and 202 rushing. This is the hardest part of the Syracuse schedule. They played Clemson at home and got stomped, went on the road to UNC and got stomped and now they are on the road again against Florida State. This is a big number for a  Florida State team that hasn’t been playing at their peak yet, but I think they can cruise past this number as the Tar Heels did.

Jordan Travis hasn’t been perfect, but he has 12 TDs and only one INT this season. He has some big-time targets in Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson (questionable, but he says he’ll play). Transfer TE Jaheim Bell hasn’t even gotten going yet, and he could be dangerous for this offense too. RB Trey Benson is averaging 7.6 YPC and had two of the top -0 fastest timed plays last Week against VaTech, finally going over 100 yards with 200 and two TDs. Syracuse has played well on defense. They forced 10 turnovers and grade well on PFF, but they have allowed 31 to Clemson and 40 to UNC in their last two games against ACC opponents.

Syracuse has the same results on offense as defense in that they averaged 44 PPG in their non-conference schedule and have only scored 21 points against Clemson and UNC. Florida State is the best team that Syracuse will play this season. While the cash in on Syracuse this week, signaling the public thinks FSU might be looking ahead to Duke, I think it’s more likely Syracuse is looking ahead to the bye week. The Noles are clicking on offense, and Syracuse won’t be able to keep up. Florida State wins big.

Bet: Florida State -17.5 (-110)

Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners

Game Total

Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that’s it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it’s called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.

ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42

tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.

Moneyline

The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That’s it. The moneyline doesn’t use favorites or underdogs, it’s totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they’re weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.

For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don’t matter, they just need to win the game. But because it’s safer to take them straight-up without points, you’ll have to risk more when you make the bet — remember, they’re seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it’s a riskier bet — they’re seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog — +220 on the moneyline. You’d win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.

ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)

tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.

Player Props

Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they’re also easy to understand. For major conferences, you’ll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It’s simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don’t vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.

ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California?  Over 250 or Under 250 

tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they’re going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.


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