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March 5, 2012

The comeback kids, the smothering defense, and the last minute game winner’s that have happened three times already this season. This is what describes the season of Florida State Basketball.

Although beating ACC leaders Duke and North Carolina earlier this season, Bet365 is giving 100/1 odds to win NCAA Tournament. To say that they just beat Duke and North Carolina is probably understating those games. They absolutely clobbered North Carolina and beat Duke at home with a buzzer beater that absolutely hushed the “Cameron Crazies”. The defeat suffered by North Carolina was so bad that Roy Williams shook Noles coach, Leonard Hamilton’s hand before the game was over taking his starters completely off the sidelines and heading into the locker room earlier to avoid the crowd swarm that was about to ensue. This is the North Carolina team that is getting 3rd best odds (9/2) to win by Bet365, tied with Syracuse. Then the Seminoles traveled a little further down the road to Duke and played a game that showcased exactly what they bring to the table. The defense was so smothering that Duke was forced off their normal rhythm and a timely shot from Michael Snaer before the buzzer started the celebration. This coming against the Blue Devils that are also given better odds by Bet365 to win the championship at 11/2.

They have since come back down to earth and lost consecutive ACC games to both Miami and Duke, which was another tough fought game in which the Blue Devils refused to allow themselves to lose again. The theme this year for the Noles has been tough defense that doesn’t allow an offense to breathe and an offense that has no idea of what it is doing. In the stomping of UNC, Deividas Dulkys went bananas. He was an offensive machine and showing off a shot that Leonard Hamilton only saw hints of throughout his career. The real problem came in the game against Miami when the Canes threw a zone defense on the Noles that caused chaos on the offense. You can bet that other teams will mark that down on the scouting report. Then the Noles do it again, just like the buzzer beater that silenced Duke, and a miracle comeback capped by a buzzer beater against Virginia Tech, they shocked Virginia as Ian Miller knocked down a prayer 3 pointer that might have been the confidence booster needed going into the ACC tournament. The Noles might not be the favorite to win the ACC with UNC and Duke involved, but they sure have shown that if it comes down to a championship game, it will be a dogfight. Depending on how well they do in the ACC tournament, trhey could even reach one of their highest seeds ever. If there play has shown us anything, it’s that nobody wants to be in a close game with the time running low against the Noles.

Top 10 Odds To Win NCAA Tournament – as found at Bet365 Sportsbook on 3/5/2012

  1. Kentucky (7/4) +175
  2. North Carolina (9/2) +450
  3. Duke (11/2) +550
  4. Syracuse (6/1) +600
  5. Kansas (6/1) +600
  6. Missouri (14/1) +1400
  7. Michigan State (14/1) +1400
  8. Ohio State (14/1) +1400
  9. Baylor (33/1) +3300
  10. Georgetown (40/1) +4000

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