North Carolina Tar Heels vs Florida State Seminoles: Tuesday's Odds, Spreads, and Totals

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Are the 12-1 North Carolina Tar Heels ready to begin conference hoops? The answer is yes, if last Monday's whopping win versus East Carolina was any indication. The No. 12 ranked Tar Heels posted a 99-51 final score while showcasing Henri Veesaar's talents as one of the most dynamic power players in Division 1.

The anxious news is that Atlantic Coast Conference basketball looks as powerful as ever, boosted by the presence of western schools in the fashion of football's new leagues that stretch across four time zones. UNC awaits tough battles with Duke, Virginia, Louisville, SMU, and even California and Stanford. First, however, the Tar Heels play host to a Florida State Seminoles squad that has flopped in December.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs Florida State Seminoles

Chapel Hill is a decisive, deserving betting favorite over visiting Florida State in Tuesday's conference opener with the Seminoles at 7 p.m. EST. Florida State's 7-6 overall record and its two straight wins coming into Tuesday's tipoff contrast an out-of-conference slate of bad outcomes from FSU. The Seminoles turned the ball over 19 times and shot 36.2% in Dec. 16's 97-69 loss to 9-3 Dayton.

Veesaar will be a national sensation if he keeps draining treys. There's no precedent for a 7-foot-0 big man to become North Carolina's best bomber in a Top 25 season, but that's exactly what Veesaar is doing as of the holidays. "Veesaar leads (UNC) in perimeter shooting," reported Andrew Jones of 247 Sports nearly a week ago. Since then, the bruiser has stunned fans with still more swishes from downtown.

FSU hopes that its 6-foot-10 senior Chauncey Wiggins can defend in the paint while retaining the legs to chase Veesaar out to the arc. But the Seminoles' other problem is a lack of scoring touch. Florida State ranks second-from-last in the ACC with a 42.2% percentage from the field compared to UNC's 47.5%.

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