Surging Hokies take on Seminoles in Sunshine State

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01/17/2007 - Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams sitting at opposite ends of the ACC landscape get together in Tallahassee this evening, as the red-hot 23rd-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, take on the Florida State Seminoles in league action from the Donald L. Tucker Center.

What a week the Hokies have had, as Virginia Tech thrust itself into the national spotlight with wins over powerhouses Duke and North Carolina in a seven-day span. In all, Virginia Tech has won four straight games and nine of the last 10, including knocking off then top-ranked North Carolina this past weekend, 94-88. With the win, the Hokies moved to 13-4 overall and a perfect 3-0 in league play.

The Seminoles are still in search of their first league win (0-3), having dropped three games in a row, including last weekend's 88-80 shootout loss at George Tech.

Florida State leads the all-time series with Virginia Tech, 21-16. Tech won the last game however, a 72-61 decision in Blacksburg a year ago.

The win over North Carolina halted an 18-game losing streak to the Tar Heels and was Tech's first home win over UNC since 1949. The Hokies fell behind early, but went on a 17-0 run in the first half to take a 10-point lead at the break. North Carolina made a run of its own in the second half, but clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch preserved the win for the home team. Five Hokies finished in double figures, led by Zabian Dowdell's 23 points. Fellow starters Jamon Gordon (17 pts) and Coleman Collins (12 pts) got in the act as well, while key reserves A.D. Vassallo (17 pts) and Nick Munson (10 pts) did the rest. Tech is an obvious dangerous team that has gotten the job done at both ends of the court this season. The team is averaging 74.4 ppg on a solid .473 shooting. Defensively, Tech is yielding just 59.7 ppg, while holding opponents under 40 percent shooting (.397). Dowdell, who was named the ACC Player of the Week recently, leads the team in scoring at 17.0 ppg. His backcourt partner, Gordon, adds 12.4 ppg, while adding a team-high 73 assists. Vassallo is one of the ACC's top reserves, with 11.6 ppg and is followed in the scoring column by Deron Washington (10.8 ppg, team-high 5.1 rpg).

The Seminoles are similar to Virginia Tech in many statistical categories, but have failed to put it all together in league play yet. The team has done a nice job at the offensive end of the court, averaging a solid 75.1 ppg, while shooting a healthy .486 from the floor. Defensively, the team has thrived at forcing turnovers, averaging almost 19 takeaways per game (18.9). Al Thornton is one of the conference's most under appreciated performers. He is shooting .547 from the floor and leads the Seminoles in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg) and blocked shots (23). Auburn transfer Toney Douglas has fit in nice with his new team, averaging 13.6 ppg, while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor (.497). Jason Rich rounds out the double-digit threats with 10.5 ppg. The Seminoles jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but could not sustain the momentum, as Georgia Tech went on an 18-4 run to take the lead for good. Douglas led the way with 22 points, followed closely by Thornton's 20. Uche Echefu added 13 points to the losing cause, as FSU shot a respectable .509 from the floor, including 50 percent from behind the arc (8-of-16). However, the 'Noles turned the ball over a costly 18 times in the game.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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