Florida State vs. Miami odds, prediction: Seminoles can cover three-score spread

We call this weekly column “Ugly Underdogs'” because every Saturday we make the case for a very bad college football team to cover the spread against a much better one.Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to putting our hard-earned money on also-rans like Akron, Rice, UMass and New Mexico State.

Last week, we sweated it out as Ball State covered a 36.5-point spread against Northwestern despite being down 31 points at the end of the third quarter.This week, we will change the pace a bit.

We’re still betting on a terrible team, but this Saturday we’re straying into blueblood territory.Well, that is if you still consider Florida State a blueblood.

You could argue that the biggest surprise of the college football campaign is that Mike Norvell is still employed by Florida State.There is the whole $46.7 million buyout that looms, and the Seminoles are also searching for their next athletic director, but FSU seems destined for its third consecutive losing season and its fifth in Norvell’s seven years in Tallahassee.The shouts for Norvell’s axing are likely to get louder this week as the Seminoles travel to No.3 Miami as 21.5-point underdogs before hitting their bye week.

If Florida State is blown out for the second straight week, it could be curtains for Norvell.It is almost certainly delaying the inevitable, but I think the Seminoles may be able to avoid getting embarrassed at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.I’m not saying that Florida State will win, or even make Miami sweat it out, but the Seminoles are competent enough to keep this thing within three scores.It’s a low bar, I know.Miami’s numbers look stellar across the board, but it’s been aided by a soft schedule.

Games involving the Hurricanes have boasted an average spread of 32 points, and the Hurricanes have only faced one team ranked inside the top 50 of Bill Connelly’s SP+ power rankings: Wake Forest.While the Hurricanes were still a comfortable 13-point road victor against the Demon...