NCAA Tournament Betting Odds: Florida State vs Gonzaga

One of the most exciting games of this 2010 NCAA Tournament will come to us from Buffalo on Friday night. That’s when the Florida State Seminoles and Gonzaga Bulldogs square off in the NCAA betting odds.

No. 9 Florida State Seminoles (22-9 SU, 8-18 ATS) vs. No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-6 SU, 14-12-2 ATS): NCAA Tournament First Round

Friday, March 19: 7:10 p.m. CBS

NCAA Betting Odds: Florida State -1 ½

Here are some NCAA Betting Trends which may impact this game:

Florida State: 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games
Florida State: Total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 5 games

Gonzaga: 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
Gonzaga: Total has gone OVER in 3 of their last 5 games

Don’t be fooled by the names on the front of the jerseys, Florida State comes into this game as the favorite. They finished this year tied for third in the rugged ACC, and they did it based on the strength of the nation’s best defense.

That’s right, nobody played better defense in college basketball this year than the Florida State Seminoles, who held opponents to a paltry 37 percent shooting from the field as a team. And no player was more important to that dominance than lanky, 7’1 center Solomon Alabi. While Alabi is hardly a polished player offensively, on defense he’s a monster, as he averaged over six rebounds and almost two blocks a game. And believe it or not, he also led a balanced Florida State scoring attack at over 12 points a game.

As for Gonzaga, there seems to be a lot of negative sentiment surrounding this team, as they lost the WCC Championship game to St. Mary’s. Although it is hard to completely understand how the hostility is justified, as they’d won eight of nine games before that.

Either way, Gonzaga comes into this game with a balanced scoring load, led by a dynamic freshman-senior duo. That’d be guard Matt Bouldin (the senior) and Elias Harris, who is in his first year in Spokane. On the year, the two have been phenomenal, as they combined to average right around 30 points a game, with Harris leading the Zags in rebounding and Bouldin in assists.

Again, we’re not really sure where the backlash toward Gonzaga Bulldogs has come from, but it seems to have a taken a toll on their public perception in the betting odds. Everybody is crazy about Florida State, to the point that going the other way may be the play.

Another important note on Florida State: Of the three tops teams in the ACC that ended up in the tournament besides the Seminoles (That’d be Duke, Maryland and Clemson), they went a combined 0-5 against them. The Seminoles were built to beat up on the weak this year, but struggled when playing a team just as strong as tough as they were.

Therefore take Gonzaga in the betting odds. While the names on the back of the jerseys may have changed, the front is exactly the same. The Bulldogs are always a great pick in the betting odds and Friday night is no exception.

Aaron’s Pick: Gonzaga +1.5