Virginia Commonwealth vs. Florida State Betting Lines

The last of the eight NCAA men’s basketball tournament Sweet 16 games may turn out to be the best, and is certainly the most surprising. If your Southwest Regional bracket had 10th seeded Florida State taking on 11th ranked Virginia Commonwealth University then you may have a big winner this year. Tip off is Friday, March 27th at 9:57 pm in San Antonio with Florida State favored by 3.5 points at all of the best sports betting sites.

Latest VCU vs Florida St. Point Spreads

The lines will continue to change from now until game time. As such, we’ll continue to update the point spreads listed below.

• Sportsbook.com: VCU +3.5 (-110), Florida St. -3.5 (-110)
• Bodog.com: VCU +3.5 (-110), Florida St. -3.5 (-110)
• BetUS.com: VCU +3.5 (-110), Florida St. -3.5 (-110)

For all of the latest odds, visit our college basketball betting lines page. If you prefer, check out this site with the latest March Madness basketball betting promos. It’s not too late to get into bracket tournaments.

Virginia Commonwealth vs Florida State Sweet 16 Preview

Florida State

Florida State (23-10) reached the third round with wins over Texas A&M (57-50) and a surprisingly easy 71-57 victory over second seeded Notre Dame. The Seminoles finished third in the ACC, indicating that the ACC may have been underrated while the Big East and Notre Dame were overrated. The win over the Aggies was their first since the 1998 NCAA Tournament for Florida State, and the Sweet 16 is their deepest run since 1993. In short, history and experience is not on the Seminoles side.

Chris Singleton’s return from injury has been a help but not the impact you would expect from the team’s leading scorer (13.0 points per game) during the regular season. He had only five points against the Aggies and didn’t score against the Irish in his ten minutes of action. To say he’s due for a big game is an understatement.

Leading the “Noles in the tournament is Derwin Kitchen. The senior is a versatile guard who can score (10.0 points), pass (3.6 assists), rebound (5.6 per game) and play defense (1.7 steals per game). At 6’4”, he is a handful to control and can post up a smaller guard giving the Seminoles options offensively. Bernard James adds 5.8 rebounds from the power forward spot and led the team against Notre Dame with a double-double (14 points, 10 boards). The ‘Noles were 13th in the country in rebounds and averaged 69.3 points per game.

Florida State had big wins this season over Baylor, Duke and Clemson. Losses twice to North Carolina were understandable, but losses to Maryland by 16, Auburn and Virginia Tech twice made selection Sunday a day of doubt and led to the lower seeding. They defeated UNC Greensboro and Wake Forrest; teams that also lost to VCU.

Virginia Commonwealth

The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams earned their Sweet 16 spot on the strength of three double-digit wins; first, over USC in a play-in game by 13 points, then two 18 point wins over sixth seeded Georgetown and third seeded Purdue. The Rams have been fast-paced on offense, blitzing the Boilermakers for 94 points. When needed, they’ve been stingy on defense, holding USC to 46 points. Whether they want to play it tight or run and gun, the Rams are ready to go. VCU’s been to The Dance three times since 2004, but never won more than one game; say hello to this year’s official Cinderella.

The Rams are led by Jaime Skeen who averages 15.2 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 boards. The point guard spot is ably manned by senior Joey Rodriquez who dishes out five assists a game and shoots 33.9 percent from beyond the arc. Bradford Burgess is the shooting guard, scoring 14.1 points per game. Brandon Rozzell also averages in double digits with 11.6 points per night. Balanced scoring from the starters is the key to VCU’s attack but the bench is not deep nor are they overly productive.

Virginia Commonwealth has only a 4-6 record against tournament teams, with wins over UCLA and George Mason. They lost two of three contests with Old Dominion, as well as bad losses to Northeastern and Georgia State. But, three consecutive wins over quality opponents can’t be ignored.

Virginia Commonwealth vs. Florida St. Prediction

No team is hotter than VCU and no team is looser than Florida State. Expect a run and gun game with lots of scoring as long as neither team realizes what’s at stake and tightens up. If the coaches can get their teams focused on having fun and enjoying the experience, this may be the best game of the round. Look for VCU to use its inside outside game, but we expect the Seminoles to barely cover the point spread on a hot night from Derwin Kitchen.

We’re taking Florida St. -3.5 (-110) at Sportsbook.com.