College Football

Pigskin Profit: Seminoles will raze ‘Canes

The memories come flooding in, vivid imagery of kicks sailing wide right and wide right and wide right, and occasionally left.

When Miami and Florida State meet, history is never far away. The games last longer than 60 minutes. National titles are often decided, legacies are defined.

Saturday’s game marks the first time the Hurricanes and Seminoles will meet as undefeated teams since 1991, when Florida State’s most gut-wrenching loss against its intra-state rival took place. In a battle of the top two teams in the nation, Florida State kicker Gerry Thomas, who had made his previous three field goals, missed a 34-yarder just to the right with 29 seconds left in Tallahassee, giving Miami a 17-16 win and an eventual split of the national championship.

It was the first of five missed late field goals in games between the teams over a 12-year span, with national title hopes at stake for one, and sometimes, both teams.

In theory, both teams could get to the BCS title game this season, but in reality, Florida State is in a different stratosphere.

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is creating the need for new letters to be added to the alphabet because every superlative has been used to describe the freshman phenom.

The Seminoles are embarrassing the “competition,” winning games by an average of nearly 40 points, while Miami comes limping northwest, after barely overcoming two straight double-digit deficits, against North Carolina and Wake Forest.

A field goal won’t decide this game. Roll with the Seminoles (-22).

HOUSTON (-17½) over South Florida: “They talk about the AAC with Louisville and UCF and Rutgers, and we’re not even getting mentioned,” Houston running back Kenneth Farrow said after last week’s 35-point win at Rutgers. Well Kenneth, we believe in you. Just pick up a copy of Thursday’s Post, or if you can’t find a newspaper near you, visit nypost.com. It’s brand new!

OREGON ST (-5) over Usc: The Trojans, 1-2 on the road this season, haven’t won at Reser Stadium since 2004. And unlike past years, the Beavers are actually the more talented team this year.

RUTGERS (-13½) over Temple: Nothing restores confidence like a visit from the Owls.

PENN STATE (-10) over Illinois: A young team such as the Nittany Lions will hit speed bumps, or rather mountains, like Ohio State, but 106,000 fans or so at Beaver Stadium should get them back on track against an Illini squad which has lost three straight and is traveling for only its second road game this season.

PURDUE (+31¹/₂) Ohio State: The Boilermakers are dreadful, but an early start at home could limit the damage against the Buckeyes, who haven’t carried the same swagger outside of Columbus.

Mississippi State (+12¹/₂) over SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks can’t be counted on to show up two weeks in a row.

Wake Forest (+3½) over SYRACUSE: The Demon Deacons look as if they have turned the corner and could be heading for a bowl game.

MICHIGAN STATE (-5½) over Michigan: The Spartans have one of the best defenses in the country. The Wolverines have Devin Gardner, one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in the country. Well, that was easy.

Clemson (-17) over VIRGINA: After a brutal backdoor beat last week at Maryland, the Tigers will find redemption with an overdue blowout.

Georgia (-2½) over Florida: Hey, Jacksonville, this is the best football you’ll see all season! Though both teams are beat up heading into the cocktail party, Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley looks as if he finally is ready to return from an ankle sprain that kept him out all of October.

Navy (+17) over NOTRE DAME: Part two in our series of supporting the troops against the Irish. Thanks, Air Force.

Auburn (-8¹/₂) ARKANSAS: The Hogs have lost five straight since blowing a 17-point lead at Rutgers, while the Tigers, one of college football’s biggest surprises, have won four straight, including at Texas A&M. I hate walking into such obvious traps, but I hate disregarding logic even more.

TEXAS TECH (-2½) over Oklahoma State: Kliff Kingsbury’s kids are for real, and David Webb is on a tear, providing week-to-week consistency at quarterback the Cowboys just don’t have.

Tennessee (+11) over MISSOURI: It’s going to take some time for the Tigers to get out of the fetal position after last week’s meltdown against South Carolina.

BEST BETS: Rutgers, Mississippi State, Texas Tech

Record: 38-49-3

Best Bets: 6-12