UPDATE: FSU basketball is single-digit favorite vs. Xavier

12:15 P.M. UPDATE: The ’Noles are now 7.5 point favorites over the Musketeers. Does that make you more nervous, less nervous, or do things stay the same?

The Florida State Seminoles men’s basketball team saw its first NCAA Tournament action in about half a decade on Thursday night, defeating the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles by a final score of 86-80. Any time you can advance in the Big Dance, you’re happy with the result, but, in the case of Thursday evening, Vegas thought the margin would be greater for the ’Noles.

That’s because 3-seed FSU, favored by 12, won by just half of that spread against 14-seed FGCU. And that six-point advantage is exactly how bookmakers think Florida State will best its next opponent, the 11th-seeded Xavier Musketeers. According to VegasInsider.com, The Seminoles are favored by six against Xavier, a point spread that has actually grown after opening at 5.5.

It’ll be interesting to see how the crowd influences this game. While playing a team from Cincinnati (instead of Ft. Myers) should benefit FSU, Florida Gator fans may just show up early and cheer on the Musketeers before their own game in the late slot.

So what do you say? Does six sound right? If not, where would you set the spread?