The Duke Blue Devils are the largest underdog in conference championship history, as they prepare to take on the No.1-ranked Florida State Seminoles in the ACC Championship game Saturday night. For the Seminoles, a trip to the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena is on the line as they finished the regular season 12-0 for the first time since 1999.
- When:
Sat., Dec.7, 2013 @ 8:00pm ET
- Where:
Bank of America, Charlotte, NC
- Who’s Favored?
FSU by 29 ~ 62 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
For Florida State though, the biggest result of the week will come well before kick off at 8 pm ET on ESPN. Thursday afternoon at 2 pm ET State Attorney Willie Meggs will announce the findings of the investigation stemming from an alleged sexual assault complaint filed against FSU quarterback Jameis Winston.
Most believe that Winston will not be charged if a news conference was called, and as of Thursday morning no official booking or warrant for Winston’s arrest had been made in the Leon County Court System.
Regardless of the result, the ACC Championship game will go on. Even without Winston, the Seminoles will be big favorites in this game. Florida State has been the most complete team in college football all season long. They rank No.2 in the country in scoring offense, and No.1 in the country in scoring defense. An average margin of victory of 42 points is far and away the highest.
But Duke has put together a historic 10-win season for their program as champions of the Coastal Division. Head coach David Cutcliffe said when he took the job that he guaranteed within five years that Duke would win the ACC. It’s only been three, and look where they are now. They are the prohibitive underdogs, but they entered the season that way as well.
To pull off the upset of the season in college football, the Blue Devils will have to figure out a way to get the game within a possession or two into the fourth quarter. From there, anything can happen. Getting off to a fast start will be absolutely critical in this. If they fall into a hole early, the Seminoles will only try to exploit that and put the game out of reach.