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Vegas has Florida State favored at Florida, underdog at Clemson

Could the ACC have a two-loss champion?

Florida v Florida State Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

South Point Casino in Las Vegas released some early futures lines this week for the college football season. The bet limit is $1,000, so even if you do happen to find yourself in Sin City, you won’t be getting rich on these. And they are likely to change a lot. But they are fun to discuss. Florida State is mentioned a few times.

The Seminoles are a favorite of five points to end the year at Florida. The Gators should have an improved offense, but the defense is also likely to regress a bit. Jimbo Fisher has never lost a road game at Florida in his career as FSU head coach.

But FSU is an underdog at Clemson, by five points. The Tigers lost some key players to the NFL Draft, including QB Deshaun Watson and WR Mike Williams, but might have the best defense they have had under Dabo Swinney. Jimbo Fisher is 1-2 in Death Valley as FSU’s coach.

While the winner of the FSU v. Clemson game has won the Atlantic Division each year since 2010, it is interesting to note that Clemson is an underdog of two points at Louisville, while FSU is favored by 6.5 points hosting the Cards.

I’ve contended for a while that the ACC is not a lock to make the playoffs this year, that it could easily have a two-loss champion, and that the league will feature a lot of ugly, low-scoring games. These lines seem to support that.

The Florida State v. Alabama line to open the year in Atlanta is not listed, because lines for season openers have been out for a while, and are not considered as speculative as these futures lines. FSU is a six-point underdog against Alabama.

The line v. Miami is also not listed, nor is a line listed for the game against N.C. State.

Other interesting lines concerning FSU’s opponents, the ACC, and title contenders: Alabama is favored by just 3.5 at Auburn ... Virginia Tech is favored by just 6 at Virginia ... Georgia is favored by 3 over Florida ... Clemson is favored by 7 hosting Auburn ... Ohio State is favored by 8 hosting Oklahoma ... LSU is favored by 4.5 hosting Auburn ... Penn State is favored by 14 hosting Michigan ... Ohio State is favored by 8.5 hosting Penn State ... Alabama is favored by 11 hosting LSU.

What are your thoughts? Let’s discuss in the comment section.