Oregon has been extremely impressive to close out the year and probably deserve to be more than a TD favorite, but this is new territory for Florida State who haven’t lost in 2 seasons. They have not been a dog since 2011 at Clemson and I think they will be extra motivated because of it. Not only does Florida State have more talent as far as more guys will be NFL draft picks, but I think they have the better QB for a big game like this. I’m still not sold on what Marcus Mariota can do in a big game and this is his chance to prove his doubters wrong. Winston has proved it and he should be extra motivated in this spot as a big dog facing the QB that won the Heisman this year. For Winston everything is behind him as far as what happened off the field and he gets to lead his team against the West Coast guys in Pasadena.

Florida State just never won with glamour this year and that’s the biggest difference between these two teams. Many feel the ACC is down, but I have to disagree when you look at how they have performed this bowl season. Boston College played well against Penn State, Duke covered and gave Arizona State who similarly to Oregon was a TD favorite, Clemson just absolutely dominated Oklahoma and Virginia Tech got a nice win as well. Now North Carolina was a bad team from the start, but there were highlights of a good team at times.

It’s also worth noting that Florida State’s offense has opened up with the emergence of Dalvin Cook and the fact that they ran the ball against some pretty good defenses down the stretch including, 5.77 ypc vs. Louisville, 6.00 vs. Miami, 4.41 vs. Florida, and 5.42 vs. Georgia Tech. Winston won’t have to do it on his own, but having balance from Cook makes him all that more dangerous. At the end of the day 8.5 points is far too much with Winston in control and a defense that can make plays. Oregon’s defense has had some pretty bad moments at time this year too and even if Oregon gets a head Florida State is always good for the back door cover.

Where to find Freddy?