Peach Bowl 2015 picks and predictions: Seminoles should stave off Houston upset bid

Florida State didn’t waltz through the season undefeated to reach the national championship or the College Football Playoff again, but the Seminoles did finish as the second-best team in the ACC, according to the committee rankings, going 10-2 with a loss at Clemson and an inexplicable loss to Georgia Tech.

The FSU offense struggled to find its identity early in the season, but after benching transfer quarterback Everett Golson in favor of Sean Maguire, the offense looked much better. It also looked good behind running back Dalvin Cook, who was injured at times this season, but played like a Heisman winner when he was healthy. He wasn’t in the running, possibly due to his team’s place in the rankings and his total volume due to injuries, but he absolutely deserved to be.

Houston’s offense has had no issues all season under first-year coach Tom Herman. Herman won the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant, as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, and he’s brought a high-flying offense to Houston, which rode star quarterback Greg Ward to a one-loss season and an AAC title. The Cougars have the best team in the Group of Five conferences, and they took out FSU’s ACC foe, Louisville, earlier this year.

SB Nation analyst Pete Volk explains why he picked the Seminoles:

I picked Florida State because of the talent gap between the two schools. Greg Ward Jr. is a fantastic quarterback in the perfect system for him, but the Seminoles have Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James, which seems unfair. Houston’s strength on defense is against the run, though, so if the Cougars manage to contain Dalvin Cook they could keep up with FSU’s passing offense.

Florida State checks in as 7-point favorites with OddsShark, and is the pick from seven of SB Nation’s 10 college football analysts. The Seminoles are the pick from ESPN, as well.