Last week, I had the pleasure of taking part in the 22nd annual Florida College Football Roast (video soon), presented by the Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach Gardens, at which representatives of Florida’s top colleges (excluding USF, because) talk a little trash before the college football season starts each year. Basically, it was a chance for 6 of us to make fun of UCF’s NCAA sanctions and FAU’s empty stadium, while peppering Florida State and Florida with redneck jokes and Miami with prison remarks. All in the name of charity, of course.
But one of the more common jokes this year regarded No. 6 Florida State’s schedule, as the Seminoles began the season with a cupcake in Murray State (won 69-3) and will play another pastry in Savannah State tomorrow. Normally, this isn’t any big deal – teams schedule fluff all the time – but the oddsmakers have issued a fun little challenge to FSU.
If you go with No. 6 Florida State in Saturday’s game against lowly Savannah State, you’ll be starting with a 70½-point deficit.
That’s right, SEVENTY AND A HALF!
“Without a doubt,” said Mike Colbert, vice president of risk management for Las Vegas-based Cantor Gaming, “this is the biggest line I’ve put up in 10 years doing this.”
No kidding. From all indications, this is largest point spread ever for a Division I game. (Via ESPN)
Last week, No. 18 Oklahoma State defeated the very same Savannah State team 84-0 for the biggest cover in history at 65.5 points, which led to CBS’ resident “I don’t agree with anything that anyone says, but I’m just me, this is all just me being me” guy, Gregg Doyel, calling for the death penalty or something ridiculous for OK State and FSU.
However, if you’re not ashamed of looking for an entertaining subplot for this weekend’s NCAA football action, this would be it. Can Florida State help create a fun new pissing contest that will eventually rope in college’s best scoreboard-runners by one-upping OK State? Better yet, which previously-unheard-of school will Urban Meyer schedule so he can get a piece of this action? Will Chip Kelly play two quarterbacks at a time just so Oregon can score 200 points per game? This could be fun.
Meanwhile, if you need to reach Savannah State’s athletic director, he’ll be in Las Vegas dropping the $860,000 that his team has made in two weeks on Florida State to cover.
