The Seminoles (14-6, 5-1) enter tonight's matchup with Georgia Tech (8-13, 1-6) on a 5-game winning streak. It's been 19 years since the Noles won 6 straight in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are a struggling team, having lost 9 of 10. Oddly, their only win came on the road versus a solid North Carolina State team. Hopefully that will be enough to catch the Noles attention and keep them from taking Georgia Tech lightly.
Tech has two players averaging double figures in juniors Glen Rice Jr and Mfon Udofia. Rice (note - Mike Gminski reporting that Rice is out for tonight's game) leads the team at 13.1 but he's yet to display the 3-pt prowess he had as a freshman. He's also been hobbled with a foot injury. Udofia is a turnover prone guard who shoots too many 3s. As you might guess from my comments (or lack thereof) about their two best players, Georgia Tech is a bad offensive team. They're 181st nationally, and the problem is turnovers (270th), inability to get to the line (287th) and lack of an outside threat (268th). They've been held below a point per possession in four of their past five games, and if the Noles are focused then it will be five of six after tonight.
Defensively, this team was solid in out-of-conference play, and has been horrible in ACC play. For the year they're ranked 110th, and in ACC play they're 12th. Still, they've played well on the road, beating NC State, losing to Clemson by two, and losing to UNC by 12. Their defense doesn't force turnovers (305th). They do limit offensive boards (54th) and defend well against 2s (40th). If FSU can establish a consistent interior game then this will be a blowout.
The game tips at 7pm from the Donald L Tucker Center, and will be broadcast on FSN. The line in Vegas opened with the Noles -14.5, but has come down considerably to Noles -12. Pomeroy has the Noles -16. In other words, for the 4th straight game people are betting on an FSU regression to the mean.