The NCAA Tournament second round continues on Friday. In the East Region the No. 3 seed Florida State Seminoles will take on the No. 14 seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The game is scheduled for a 2:45 pm start time and it will be televised nationally on CBS. Currently the odds have Florida State favored by 6.5 points with the total for the game sitting at 129 points.
Free Analysis: Florida State seems to be the sexy pick to win the national championship this season by a whole lot of people. Interesting, indeed. Just because they were able to knock off Duke and North Carolina on a neutral floor doesn't automatically give them the right to cut down the nets and head to the Final Four. It was their first ACC Tournament title and earned them a No. 3 seed with a 24-9 record overall. St. Bonaventure won the Atlantic 10 tournament by beating Xavier last week and is looking to exact some of their fury on the Seminoles. With both teams winning their conference tournaments, they've both obviously won several games in a row. Memories of a painful loss a year ago still haunt the third-seeded Florida State Seminoles who have no intention of overlooking anyone. "Personally, I've thought about it every day since the VCU game," Florida State senior Bernard James said Thursday of last year's 71-70 overtime loss to VCU in the regional semifinals. The Seminole's 76-73 win on Jan. 21 over Duke snapped the Blue Devils' 45-game home winning streak and the squad captured the ACC crown with their second win over the Tar Heels. James said they've already talked about this tournament being their chance to right the wrong of their loss a year ago."We use it as a constant reminder every day to stay focused and to perform at the top of our ability," he said. The Bonnies also won their first conference tournament title in the A-10 this season to earn their first NCAA berth since 2000. "As a kid you grow up dreaming about playing in the NCAA tournament and a week ago that dream wasn't going to become reality, and somehow, some way it became, and our guys can't wait to play," Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt said. "They're excited looking forward to the challenge." The Bonnies will look to run their offense through 6-foot-9 senior forward Andrew Nicholson, the A-10 player of the year. He scores for 18.4 points a game and knocks down 65 percent of his shots. That's helped St. Bonaventure roll up 71 points per game this season, while Florida State is right around that number as well. This is just the sixth NCAA trip all-time for the Bonnies. Florida State is making their fourth straight trip to the tournament. They're led by James and top scorer Michael Snaer, a junior. The Seminoles are 15-3 since a 79-59 loss at Clemson that prompted some soul searching. This is their highest seeding since 1993 when they reached a regional final for a program that lost the 1972 national championship game to UCLA.
Free Pick: The Seminoles are the sexy pick, that's for sure. I think that they can beat St. Bonaventure in this contest but the spread is kind of a weird at just 6.5 points. St. Bonaventure is a team that can run their offense through Nicholson, whom the Seminoles will have to look to stop in this game. The total is probably something that also needs to be looked at. The total is 129 points, which means we're expecting both of these teams to score in the mid-60s. I think the Bonnies will probably end up in the mid-60s but the question is whether or not Florida State will stay there. I doubt they will. This might be a good look at an over bet.
Free Picks: St. Bonaventure vs Florida State BettingFlorida State is ripe for a let down spot and St. Bonaventure is peaking at the right time plus other factors college football bettors need to know about St. Bonaventure vs Florida State (Friday, March 16, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Vegas Runner and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.