Florida State vs Stanford Prediction, Pick & Spread for Saturday Night College Football

• The Florida State Seminoles are 17.5-point road favorites against the Stanford Cardinal Saturday night
• FSU has dropped three straight, all in ACC action
• Read below for my Florida State vs Stanford prediction, pick and line for Saturday Night College Football

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Two teams bringing up the rear in the ACC clash Saturday night when the Florida State Seminoles (3-3, 0-3 ACC) visit the Stanford Cardinal (2-4, 1-2 ACC).

The Seminoles have crashed out in conference play, having dropped eight straight ACC games, including the first three in their slate this season, yet they’re a monster favorite in the college football odds.

Kickoff is set for Saturday night at Stanford Stadium in Northern California, with coverage provided by ESPN.

Florida State vs Stanford Prediction 

I don’t know if the Seminoles should be considered a 3-score favorite over any team right now. After an impressive 3-0 start, which included an opening week upset of Alabama, FSU’s season has hit the skids.

The Seminoles have lost three in a row, most recently a 34-31 defeat at the hands of the Pitt Panthers. Also included in that skid are losses to Virginia (in double OT) and 3rd-ranked Miami.

Key Offensive Stats

Despite their struggles, FSU is still the scoring leader in the ACC, averaging 44.2 points per game, but that’s much inflated with wins over East Texas A&M and Kent State, where they combined to score 143 points.

Looking at just ACC play, the ‘Noles are 15th in scoring defense, allowing 36 points per game.

Stanford is just a few spots better, allowing 34 points per game in conference action, where its dropped two of three to start.

The Cardinal opened ACC play with a win over Boston College, but was crushed by 48-20 by Virginia, and most recently slapped around by SMU to the tune of 34-10.

Stanford is putting up just 18.8 points per game on the season, tied with North Carolina for the fewest in the ACC. That low output is part of the reason they are just 1-5-0 against the spread in six games this season.

Florida State vs Stanford Pick

• Pick: Over 54.5 points (-105 at FanDuel)

The Seminoles are 0-3-0 ATS since starting conference play, and taking away their blowout wins over non power-conference schools, Florida State’s largest margin of victory is 14 points.

In fact, their 31-17 win over Alabama is their only legit win on the campaign.

So rather than try to sweat out a big cover like this, I’ll target the total, and in this case, the Over.

Florida State has seen the Over cash five times in their six games this season, as they’ve topped 30+ points in two of their losses.

Plus, seven of Florida State’s last eight October games as a favorite against unranked teams has hit the Over.

I get the concern that Stanford might drag them down under that mark, considering their lack of offensive punch, but they’ve been doing their part as the Over is a healthy 3-1-0 over the last four.

FSU’s defense certainly can be punctured: they have allowed eight TD passes in the last three games and rank 11th in the ACC in TD passes against.

In the first conference matchup between these teams, each side’s porous defense helps push this past the number.

Florida State vs Stanford Odds

The Seminoles are a hefty 17.5-point road favorite in this one, while you can find this spread as high as 18.5 points, which is good as every point will be needed by the Cardinal to cover the line.

FSU’s moneyline sits at a distant -1000 at FanDuel, meaning you’d need to risk $1,000 to win $100 on the Seminoles to win straight up.

Conversely, you’d have to be a major Cardinal fan if you’d outright bet the upset, even if it is at +660 odds.

The total is set at 54.5 points, but has some flux a half-point each way, depending on what way you want to wager.