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Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Florida State Football Picks

Written December 22, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Florida State Wisconsin Football

The Wisconsin Badgers didn’t have near the season they had expected, but they still have a shot at ending the 2008 season on a high note when they take the Florida State Seminoles in the Champs Sports Bowl this Saturday Dec. 27th. The Badgers managed to finish the regular season at 7-5, thanks to a 3 game winning streak to end the season, but were just 3-5 in Big 10 play. The Seminoles had a pretty solid season going 8-4, and nearly missed a chance to play in the ACC title game, as they finished conference play at 5-3. So for those of you looking to bet on NCAA football this bowl season, the oddsmakers have Florida State 5.5 point favorites over Wisconsin at Bookmaker.com

Wisconsin started the season 3-0, but next thing you know they lost 5 of their next 6 games in one of the toughest starts a team could have to the Big 10 season. The Badgers started the season with Allen Eridge making the calls under center, but in the middle of the season they turned to Dustin Sherer, who looks like he could be a solid quarterback for this team in not only this game but next year as well. Sherer wound up throwing for 1257 yards with 5 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, but he continued to get better with each week of play. The Badgers will do most of their damage on the ground with the duo of PJ Hill who ran for 1021 yards and 13 scores and John Clay who added another 845 yards and 9 scores. The Seminoles have a solid defense, so Sherer has to have a big game or Florida State will just key on the run and the Badgers offense will struggle.

The Badgers defense really struggled this season, as they gave up 30 or more 4 times this season, and really feel to shut anyone down in Big 10 play. The Badgers gave up 25.3 points a game on the season, and struggled both stopping the run and the pass. The defense did create 22 turnovers on the season, and you have to think they could use a few of those against the Seminoles. The Badgers didn’t get a ton of pressure on the opposing team, as they averaged just about 2 a game, but they are going to need some of that pressure this weekend. Bet Wisconsin Badgers +5.5 at Bookmaker.com

The Seminoles had a great start to the 2008 season winning 6 of their first 7 games, but things started to turn as they lost a heartbreaker on the road to Georgia Tech and then fell to beat Boston College at home, that would have gave them the ACC Atlantic division. Christian Ponder had his ups and downs this season, as he threw 13 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns. When the team is at its best, its getting solid play from running back Antone Smith, who led the Seminoles with 753 yards and 14 touchdowns. Even with all the turnovers the offense still managed to score nearly 33 points a game, and if this team can just control its mistakes it likely would be playing in a bowl game much later in the bowl season, but for now they have to just find a way to hold on to the ball and take care of business against the Badgers.

The Seminoles defense did a really good job considering all the times the offense sent them right back on to the field, as this unit allowed just 20.8 points a game. The Seminoles created a number of turnovers as well, as they forced 9 interceptions and 14 fumbles this season, and were a force at putting pressure on the other teams quarterbacks, as they come in with nearly 3 sacks a game as a team, and all the thanks go to the play of Everette Brown who leads the team with 12.5 sacks. Look for Brown and company to try and put a whole bunch of pressure on the fairly inexperienced Wisconsin QB in this one, and as long as the offense can hold on to the ball the Seminoles should win this game. Bet Florida State Seminoles -5.5 at Bookmaker.com

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