Noles News: Vegas sets FSU’s win total at 9.5, Seminoles slight favorite to win ACC (2024)

Recruiting

2026 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. — son of former Cinciatti Bengals receiver Chris Henry — received a Florida State offer on Tuesday. Currently committed to Ohio State, he’s considered the top prospect in the country by the 247Sports Composite in the 2026 class and holds offerfs from the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Longhorns and plenty others:

Florida State offered four-star tight end Ryder Mix, a four-star 2026 prospect out of Frisco, Texas. The 6-foot-4 220-pound player also holds offers from Auburn, Michigan, Florida, Ohio State. Oregon, LSU, TCU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, amongst others:

Brady Edmunds, a 2027 quarterback out of Huntington Beach in California, also received an offer from the Seminoles. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound gunslinger has offers from the likes of Arizona State, Virginia Tech and UNLV:

2025 linebacker Tavion Wallace, a four-star prospect, has Florida State in his top five alongside LSU, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas:

Football

DraftKings has released odds on the 2024 college football season, with the oddsmakers setting Florida State’s win total at 9.5 on the season (over and under both have the same odds at -110).

FSU’s rivals, for comparison:

• Florida: 4.5 (-140 over, +120 under)
• Miami: 9 (over -105, under -115)
• Clemson: 9.5 (over +110, under -130)

Some of the other odds centered around Florida State:

• 13.5-point favorites over Georgia Tech in season opener
• 23.5-point favorites over Boston College in home opener
• +2200 to win the national championship, +125 to make the playoff (-155 to miss), +275 to win the ACC
• DJ Uiagalelei is tied for the seventh-best odds to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy at +2000

2024 National Championship odds:

• Georgia Bulldogs: +320
• Ohio State Buckeyes: +425
• Texas Longhorns: +700
• Oregon Ducks: +900
• Alabama Crimson Tide: +1400
• LSU Tigers: +1400
• Ole Miss Rebels: +1500
• Michigan Wolverines: +1800
• Florida State Seminoles: +2200
• Clemson Tigers: +2500

2024 ACC Championship odds:

• Florida State Seminoles: +275
• Clemson Tigers: +280
• Miami Hurricanes: +450
• Louisville Cardinals: +500
• NC State Wolfpack: +1100
• Virginia Tech Hokies: +1800
• SMU Mustangs: +1800
• North Carolina Tar Heels: +2500
• Syracuse Orange: +4500
• California Golden Bears: +5500

Odds to make 2024 College Football Playoff:

1. Georgia Bulldogs: Yes: -600, (No: +400)
2. Texas Longhorns: Yes: -250, (No: +190)
3. Oregon Ducks: Yes: -200, (No: +155)
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Yes: -165, (No: +130)
5. Penn State Nittany Lions: Yes: -130, (No: +100)
6. Ole Miss Rebels: Yes: -130, (No: +100)
7. Michigan Wolverines: Yes: -120, (No: -110)
8. LSU Tigers: Yes: -110, (No: -130)
9. Alabama Crimson Tide: Yes: +100, (No: -130)
10. Florida State Seminoles: Yes: +125, (No: -155)

2024 Heisman Trophy odds:

• Quinn Ewers (Texas Longhorns): +900
• Carson Beck (Georgia Bulldogs): +900
• Dillon Gabriel (Oregon Ducks): +1000
• Jalen Milroe (Alabama Crimson Tide): +1400
• Will Howard (Ohio State Buckeyes): +1500
• Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss Rebels): +1800
• Garrett Nussmeier (LSU Tigers): +2000
• DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State Seminoles): +2000
• Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee Volunteers): +2200
• Cam Ward (Miami Hurricanes): +2200

Legendary Florida State running back Warrick Dunn was named the College Sports Communicators’ 2024 Dick Enberg Award winner — awrded to “an individual who has distinguished themselves nationally through their career achievement and meaningful contributions to society while promoting the values of education and academics:”

Dunn, a Freshman All-American in 1993 while helping Florida State win its first national championship, earned first-team All-America honors in 1996 as FSU played for another national title. He appeared in 41 games and rushed 575 times for 3,959 yards and 37 touchdowns while adding 132 receptions for 1,314 yards and 12 touchdowns. Playing in an era before statistics from bowl games counted toward career totals, Dunn became the first player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in three different seasons and left FSU as the program’s career rushing yards record holder. A member of the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team in 2002, his jersey was retired by Florida State in 1997 and he was inducted into the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.

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He still holds program records with 22 career 100-yard rushing games, including a school-record streak of six straight 100-yard games in 1995, a single-season yards-per-rush average of 7.5 from 1995 and a career average of 6.9 yards per rush. He broke the program’s single-season rushing record with 1,242 yards in 1995 and followed that with 1,180 yards, the third-highest total in program history at the time and still the school record for rushing yards by a senior, in 1996. He was a three-time first-team All-ACC selection and was named MVP of the Sugar Bowl following the 1994 season after posting 182 yards of total offense and showing his versatility by rushing for 58 yards, completing a 73-yard touchdown pass and grabbing nine receptions for 51 yards.

Dunn was selected 12th overall in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent 12 seasons in the NFL for the Bucs and the Atlanta Falcons. He appeared in 181 games, including 15 or more in 10 of those seasons, and rushed 2,669 times for 10,967 yards and 49 touchdowns and also made 510 receptions for 4,339 yards and 15 touchdowns. He retired with 15,306 all-purpose yards, 14th in NFL history at the time, and his 10,967 career rushing yards were 19th on the NFL’s all-time list. His 4,986 rushing yards with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still rank third in franchise history, while his 306 receptions are fifth and his 19 rushing touchdowns for the Bucs are seventh in franchise history 15 seasons after his career concluded. He still ranks third in Atlanta Falcons history with his average of 4.2 yards per carry, fourth in franchise history with 5,981 rushing yards and tied for sixth with 30 rushing touchdowns for the franchise. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection, the 2004 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner, the 2009 Bart Starr Award winner, the 2010 Heisman Humanitarian Award recipient and the 2011 Jefferson Humanitarian Award for Public Service winner. He was named 1997 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and was selected for the Pro Bowl during his rookie campaign. Dunn became a minority owner in the Atlanta Falcons in March 2010 and was inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor in 2017.

Off the field, Dunn’s impact has been immeasurable. He established his Homes for the Holidays program in 1997, which serves as the flagship program at Warrick Dunn Charities. That initiative has provided single-parent families with home furnishing and down-payment assistance on new homes. The program has helped 223 families reach the dream of home ownership. Warrick Dunn Charities also established the Count on Your Future program in 2014 to teach families how to achieve economic empowerment, the Hearts for Community scholarship program that provides financial needs-based awards to support students who are active volunteers in their community, and Sculpt workshops that teach families about the importance of healthy food choices and how to eat healthy on a budget. In 2007, he joined Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning and Cal Ripken, Jr., to found Athletes for Hope. He was given the Giant Steps Award from former President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Baseball

Softball

No. 14 Florida State softball will look to pick up where it left off in its season series vs. the Gators tomorrow night, facing off against Florida in Tallahassee.

Some fun facts, via FSU Sports Info:

• FSU will be looking for its seventh consecutive win against the Gators.
• FSU has not lost to Florida in Tallahassee since 2019.
• FSU will be looking to sweep the season series for just the sixth time in program history.
• FSU will be looking to add to its resume with a top 10 win to help their case to host a regional for the 10th consecutive season. FSU comes into Wednesday night with a No. 10 ranking in the RPI.
• The Seminoles come into the rivalry matchup as one of the hottest teams in the country. FSU has won 22 out of its 23 games and are on a 14 game winning streak which is the second longest winning streak in the country.
• FSU will finish 16-1 in April and has outscored its opponents 135-34.
• In the past four seasons. Florida State is 90-11-1 during the months of April and May.
• 12 out of FSU’s 22 wins have come via run rule.
• FSU has jumped up to No. 10 in the RPI and have put themselves in great condition to host a regional for the 10th consecutive season
• FSU has outscored their opponent 200-55 and are averaging 8.69 runs per game in its past 23 games.
• During their eight-game winning streak from Mar. 23-Apr. 3, FSU scored at least eight runs in all eight of those games during the winning streak. That tied the school record for the longest streak of scoring eight or more runs. The last time FSU accomplished the feat was from Mar. 19-31, 2019.
• FSU’s pitching has made significant strides over the past 23 games as they hold a 2.67 ERA and have allowed more than five runs just twice in the last 23 games after allowing five or more runs 11 times in the first 27 games.
• In the first 27 games, FSU allowed three or more runs in 17 innings. In the last 23 games, FSU has allowed three more runs in just five innings.
• FSU has also been limiting their free bases in the last 23 games. FSU is allowing just 2.6 free bases per game which is down from 3.5 free bases per game in their first 27 games.
• FSU has also seen a significant improvement in its team ERA as they have posted a 2.67 ERA in the last 20 games compared to a 4.21 ERA in the first 27 games.

All Sports

No. 9 Florida State men’s tennis was selected to host the a regional in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018:

The 10-seeded Seminoles will host Florida, UCF, and North Florida in Tallahassee beginning on Friday, May 3. Florida and UCF will play at 1 p.m. before Florida State will face North Florida at 4 p.m. Winners of the Friday matches meet on Saturday at 4 p.m. to advance to the Third Round.

This marks the fifth time in program history that FSU will host a regional. Head coach Dwayne Hultquist has led the Seminoles to their 20th appearance in the tournament in the last 21 years. Last season, FSU swept Baylor in the first round to record a fifth-straight second round appearance when qualifying for the championship.

The Seminoles claimed their first-ever ACC Championship this season with four victories in four days, defeating No. 65 Virginia Tech, No. 11 NC State, No. 7 Wake Forest, and No. 2 Virginia to become the lowest seed to win the championship. FSU finished the regular season 21-7 with 15 victories away from home and 10 wins against ranked opponents.

Florida State women’s track and field athlete Dajaz DeFrand was named ACC Performer of the Week:

DeFrand won the women’s 100-meter, clocking a lifetime best of 10.88 at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her time ranks first in the ACC and third nationally. DeFrand was also the second leg of the 4x100 relay team that placed fourth with the 10th fastest time in school history at 43.43. She concluded her weekend placing third in the 200 with a lifetime best and fourth-fastest time in school history at 22.58.

Fifth-year Florida State swimmer Peter Varjasi took home two medals from the German National Swimming Championships:

Varjasi turned in his personal best in the 100-meter free in prelims at 48.45, claiming the top seed. He was just off the mark in finals, touching for silver at 48.57. Both swims were under the Olympic consideration time (48.58).

On Thursday, Varjasi swam the 100 fly, contributing his best at 52.21 for third place, just ahead of Tobias Schulrath in fifth (52.92) after swimming 52.45 in prelims. Schulrath also touched 17th in the 100 free (50.48).