The Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles renew their basketball rivalry on Sunday when the teams meet at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville. The Gators (1-0), who are ranked No. 6 in the country, opened the season with a 74-59 victory against North Florida on Tuesday. In the preseason, Florida was picked by the media to finish second in the SEC. Meanwhile, the Seminoles (0-1) opened the season with a tough 63-61 loss at Pitt in a game that also served as the team's ACC-opener. Florida State is 6-0-1 against the spread in its last seven games against SEC teams, and tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET. Florida is favored by six in the latest Florida vs. Florida State odds, while the over-under for total points scored is 133.5. Before making any Florida State vs. Florida picks of your own, listen to what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has crushed its top-rated against-the-spread picks the past three years, returning $2,770 to $100 players. It began the 2019-20 season hitting 60 percent of its top-rated spread selections.
Now the model has dialed in on Florida vs. Florida State. We can tell you it is pointing under, and it has an against the spread pick that cashes in almost 60 percent of simulations. That one is available only at SportsLine.
The model knows that Florida will have the best player on the court in Kerry Blackshear Jr. The graduate transfer from Virginia Tech was voted the SEC preseason player of the year after averaging 14.9 points during his all-ACC 2018-19 season at Virginia Tech. In the season-opening win over North Florida, he lived up to the hype, scoring 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. In the process he became the first Gator with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance in the season opener since Mike Miller in 1998.
The model also has factored in that Florida also brings in the No. 7 recruiting class of 2019, which featured McDonald's all-American's Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann. Lewis finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists in the opener, while Mann had 11 points and four rebounds.
But just because the Gators appear to have the edge on paper does not mean they will cover the Florida vs. Florida State spread on Sunday.
That's because the Seminoles have owned the series against the Gators recently. Florida State has won five straight games between the two teams, with an average margin of victory of 9.4 points. Last season, the Seminoles routed Florida, 81-60, in Tallahassee.
In addition, Florida State can rely on senior point guard Trent Forrest. The only starter returning from a team that reached the Sweet 16 last season, Forrest was a preseason all-ACC second team selection. In the season-opener on Wednesday, he led the Seminoles with 19 points.
So who wins Florida State vs. Florida? And which side of the spread can you bank on in almost 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Florida State vs. Florida spread to jump on Sunday, all from the advanced model that returned more than $1,700 on its college basketball picks last season, and find out.
