Virginia Tech vs. FSU odds: 2018 college football picks, and top insider predictions from expert who's 7-1 on Florida State games

The Florida State Seminoles enter a new era Monday at 8 p.m. ET when they host the Virginia Tech Hokies in a prime-time showcase. The Seminoles are seven-point favorites, the same as where the line opened at many outlets. The over-under for total points scored is 55, up from an initial offering of 50 after heavy action on the over. Willie Taggart makes his debut as Florida State's head coach following a one-year stop at Oregon. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente looks to lead the Hokies back into ACC title contention in his third season. Before you make any Florida State vs. Virginia Tech picks, listen to what SportsLine expert Emory Hunt has to say.

His expertise has earned him the nicknamed "The Czar of the Playbook," and Hunt already has spent endless hours breaking down the rosters of every FBS club. More importantly, he has been locked in on the tendencies of the Seminoles, with an incredible 7-1 spread record in their games over the past two seasons. Anyone who has followed him is up big. Now, he's zeroed in on Monday's game and locked in a strong against the spread pick that's only available at SportsLine.

Hunt knows that Taggart's teams are historically known for their speed and physicality, and there's no reason to expect anything different at Florida State. His first major task was naming a starting quarterback following a competition between Deondre Francois, the breakout star of two years ago, and James Blackman, who filled in admirably for the injured Francois last season. Taggart named Francois the starter last week.

The defense is young and inexperienced and could start as many as five sophomores. Secondary standouts Derwin James and Tarvarus McFadden have moved on to the NFL. Junior cornerback Levonta Taylor will be charged with leading the youth-heavy secondary. FSU lost to Alabama, 24-7, in their season-opener last year.

Meanwhile, Hunt also knows the Hokies are looking to vault back into contention for the ACC championship after they reached the title game in Fuente's first season. But they came up short of a repeat trip last year, felled by back-to-back losses at Miami and Georgia Tech.

Josh Jackson returns at quarterback following a solid but sometimes unsteady campaign as a true freshman. He excelled early, but struggled late down the stretch against top-tier opponents.

The defense returns five starters from a unit that ranked fourth in scoring at 14.8 points per game. But the core has been depleted by the NFL departures of stars such as Tremaine Edmunds and Tim Settle.

We can tell you Hunt is leaning Under, but he also knows there's a critical factor that determines which side of the spread is a must-back, and he's only sharing it at SportsLine.

Who covers Virginia Tech-Florida State? And what critical factor makes one side a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side you should jump on Monday, all from a seasoned expert who is 7-1 picking Florida State games.