Last season, the Florida State Seminoles looked completely outclassed on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. This year, with both teams starting off ranked in the Top 5 of the country, the Noles will look to exact some revenge for what might amount to be the start of a National Championship season for both.

Oklahoma @ Florida State Picks & Info
Oklahoma Sooners @ Florida State Game Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011
Oklahoma @ FSU Location: Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
Oklahoma @ Florida State Game Line: Florida State Seminoles +2

The Sooners have some high hopes this season after a few years of relative disappointment after the injuries and departure of QB Sam Bradford. However, it wasn’t the offense that was the problem last year. QB Landry Jones tore apart defenses to the tune of over 4,700 yards, and he very well could be in for even better numbers this year with more emphasis coming on the passing game. WR Ryan Broyles had a field day in this fixture last year, going for 124 yards and a score on a dozen receptions. The defense was an issue for the most part, but not against FSU. This unit held the Noles down to just 345 total yards, a true accomplishment after racking up 500 yards of offense.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Florida State Seminoles Past Games (Since 1995)
2010: Oklahoma 47 – Florida State 17
2001: Oklahoma 13 – Florida State 2 (National Championship Game)

FSU has never really had any luck against the Sooners, getting beaten twice relatively badly. Now, Head Coach Jimbo Fisher is going to hope that QB EJ Manuel has the goods to get the job done this year in what could amount to be the biggest game that the Garnet and Gold have had in quite some time. The defense picked up the slack over the back half of the season until the ACC Championship Game, and Fisher knows that this unit is going to be the key at home to stopping the Sooners’ mighty attack. Look for DB Greg Reid, who had a terrible game last year, to have a significantly better showing. He could be the difference maker in this one.

Oklahoma Sooners @ Florida State Seminoles Game Odds @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 8/26/11):
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Oklahoma Sooners (-2) @ Florida State Seminoles

Our US Open predictions and free picks for the men’s bracket continue this week, as the US Open betting action gets set to get underway next week in Flushing, NY!

2011 US Open Odds, Picks & Info
2011 US Open Dates: Monday, August 29 – Sunday, September 11
2011 US Open Location: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York
2011 US Open Favorite: Novak Djokovic (+170)
Defending US Open Ladies Champion: Rafael Nadal
2011 US Open TV Coverage – Network: Tennis Network, NBC

With just two losses to his credit for the entire year, Novak Djokovic (Current US Open Odds: 1.70 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) is clear the man to watch out for over the course of the next two weeks. Djokovic has played in this final twice in his career, but he has never taken home the coveted trophy. This has been a banner year for the Serb, who has captured the world’s No. 1 ranking and has already won a pair of majors (Australian Open and Wimbledon). Often times he and the fourth favorite, Andy Murray end up taking a back seat here in Flushing, and there is a decent chance that the exact same thing could happen this time around.

And why is that? Because the defending champion of this event, Rafael Nadal (US Open Lines: 4.45 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) isn’t going to want to get off of his throne. Rafa already has a Grand Slam title as well this year to his mantle, taking care of the French Open crown once again on the clay courts. However, hard surfaces have always given the Spaniard trouble, probably due to the fact that he doesn’t have the biggest serve in the world and that his best asset is his return game. Still, Nadal won’t go down without a fight in this one, and he is going to be the man of the hour to watch through the full fortnight, knowing that no one should touch him until at least the quarters at best.

List Of Past Ladies US Open Champions (Since 2000)
2010 US Open Winner: Rafael Nadal
2009 US Open Winner: Juan Martin Del Potro
2008 US Open Winner: Roger Federer
2007 US Open Winner: Roger Federer
2006 US Open Winner: Roger Federer
2005 US Open Winner: Roger Federer
2004 US Open Winner: Roger Federer
2003 US Open Winner: Andy Roddick
2002 US Open Winner: Pete Sampras
2001 US Open Winner: Leyton Hewitt
2000 US Open Winner: Marat Safin

As always though, we can’t forget about the five-time champ of this event, Roger Federer (Odds to Win the US Open: 6.15 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook). It’s amazing to think that Federer hasn’t won a major this year, and it’s also odd to think that he is the fourth choice of the tennis oddsmakers this year at the tournament that he has historically dominated. With six finals appearances and five wins, no one since the great Pete Sampras has played like this at this tournament. Whether Federer has anything left in the tank or not is a totally different question.

US Open Odds @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 8/26/11):
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Novak Djokovic 1.70 to 1
Rafael Nadal 4.45 to 1
Andy Murray 5.15 to 1
Roger Federer 6.15 to 1
Juan Martin Del Potro 22 to 1
Jo Wilfried Tsonga 38 to 1
Mardy Fish 40 to 1
Robin Soderling 50 to 1
Tomas Berdych 75 to 1
Andy Roddick 80 to 1
Gael Monfils 225 to 1
John Isner 255 to 1
David Ferrer 315 to 1
Bernard Tomic 375 to 1
Ernests Gulbis 375 to 1
Fernando Verdasco 400 to 1
Marin Cilic 425 to 1
Richard Gasquet 500 to 1
Gilles Simon 525 to 1
Stanislas Wawrinka 550 to 1
Nikolay Davydenko 600 to 1
David Nalbandian 750 to 1
Alexandr Dolgopolov 750 to 1
Mikhail Youzhny 925 to 1
Jurgen Melzer 1,000 to 1
Nicolas Almagro 1,000 to 1
Viktor Troicki 1,000 to 1
Florian Mayer 1,000 to 1
Juan Ignacio Chela 1,000 to 1
Marco Baghdatis 1,000 to 1
Michael Llodra 1,000 to 1
Janko Tipsarevic 1,000 to 1
Feliciano Lopez 1,000 to 1
Ivan Ljubicic 1,000 to 1
Thomaz Bellucci 1,000 to 1
Kevin Anderson 1,000 to 1
Andreas Seppi 1,000 to 1
Guillermo Garcia Lopez 1,000 to 1
Fabio Fognini 1,000 to 1
Xavier Malisse 1,000 to 1
Albert Montanes 1,000 to 1
Ivan Dodig 1,000 to 1
Philipp Kohlschreiber 1,000 to 1
Juan Monaco 1,000 to 1
Sergiy Stakohvsky 1,000 to 1
Andrey Golubev 1,000 to 1
Dmitry Tursunov 1,000 to 1
Adrian Mannarino 1,000 to 1
Kei Nishikori 1,000 to 1
Ryan Harrison 1,000 to 1
Somdev Devvarman 1,000 to 1
Lukasz Kubot 1,000 to 1
Robby Ginepri 1,000 to 1
Steve Johnson 1,000 to 1
Jack Sock 1,000 to 1
Donald Young 1,000 to 1
Julien Benneteau 1,000 to 1
Bobby Reynolds 1,000 to 1
Pere Riba 1,000 to 1
Carlos Berlocq 1,000 to 1
Potito Starace 1,000 to 1
Michael Berrer 1,000 to 1
Fredrico il 1,000 to 1
Flavio Cipolla 1,000 to 1
Ivo Karlovic 1,000 to 1
Fernando Gonzalez 1,000 to 1
Horacio Zeballos 1,000 to 1
Philipp Petzschner 1,000 to 1
Albert Ramos 1,000 to 1
Marcel Granollers 1,000 to 1
Mikhail Kukushkin 1,000 to 1
Pablo Andujar 1,000 to 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero 1,000 to 1
Grigor Dimitrov 1,000 to 1
Santiago Giraldo 1,000 to 1
Dudi Sela 1,000 to 1
Radek Stepanek 1,000 to 1
Tommy Haas 1,000 to 1
Alejandro Falla 1,000 to 1
Yen Hsun Lu 1,000 to 1
Andreas Haider Maurer 1,000 to 1
Jarkko Nieminen 1,000 to 1
Victor Hanescu 1,000 to 1
Thiemo De Bakker 1,000 to 1
Tobias Kamke 1,000 to 1
Alex Bogomolov Jr 1,000 to 1
Filippo Volandri 1,000 to 1
Diego Junquiera 1,000 to 1
Karol Beck 1,000 to 1
Daniel Gimeno Traver 1,000 to 1
Ricardo Mello 1,000 to 1
Maximo Gonzalez 1,000 to 1
Tatsuma Ito 1,000 to 1
Lukas Rosol 1,000 to 1
Rui Machado 1,000 to 1
Robin Haase 1,000 to 1
Igor Andreev 1,000 to 1
James Blake 1,000 to 1
Oliver Rochus 1,000 to 1
Michael Russell 1,000 to 1
Marc Gicquel 1,000 to 1
Denis Istomin 1,000 to 1
Ryan Sweeting 1,000 to 1
Edouard Roger Vasselin 1,000 to 1
Gilles Muller 1,000 to 1
Matthias Bachinger 1,000 to 1
Igor Kunitsyn 1,000 to 1
Eric Prodon 1,000 to 1
Blaz Kavcic 1,000 to 1
Nicolas Mahut 1,000 to 1