Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET, No. 20 Duke (10-2, 6-2 ACC) and No.1 and unbeaten Florida State (12-0, 8-0 ACC) go head-to-head live from Bank of America in Charlotte. The game can be live streamed here. Duke fans can hear all of the action on WDNC The Buzz 620 while FSU fans can do the same on WFNS 1350 The Fan.
Florida State is heavily favored against Duke heading into the ACC championship game with a trip to the BCS title game hanging in the balance and Duke hasn't beaten FSU in 18 meetings.
FSU quarterback Jameis Winston was relieved of all charges regarding accusations against him for sexual assault on a female and will now be looking to concentrate on just football. Winston is 218-for-317 (68.8%) for 3,495 yards with 35 touchdowns and eight interceptions thus far this season.
Coach Jimbo Fisher insisted that the team hasn't been affected and he hasn't changed his team's plans no matter what off the field distractions had arisen.
"It hasn't altered [our preparation] in any way," Fisher said of the case before the announcement was made, according to ESPN. "Our team is not insulated from it. We deal with it. We address those issues. We control what we can control and that's how we prepare and how we play. That's how they go about it."
Fisher denied that the team being viewed as the best in the nation has changed their outlook at all.
"Not one bit," Fisher said Sunday afternoon, according to ESPN.
Florida State jumped from a No.11 preseason ranking to the best in the nation.
Fisher is happy with the team's jump in the rankings if only because it shows consistency.
"Hopefully we can do it one more week until the bowl season starts," Fisher said per ESPN. "We've been able to focus and do that and not pay attention to the outside things and worry about anything. We can't worry about where we're ranked and what goes on. We just have to worry about preparing and playing and that's all we tell our guys."
Duke has won eight in a row and defeated North Carolina 27-25 last week to reach the conference championship.
"These guys deserve more respect than what people have given them, really, overall," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said via ESPN. "We're not just fortunate. We're a good football team. We wouldn't be where we are if weren't good."
Duke was picked to finish dead last in the Coastal Division and overcame a lot of obstacles to set a school record for victories while also capturing its first division title and racking up its first consecutive bowl berths in history.
"Our entire season has been based on people telling us what we can't do," tight end Braxton Deaver told ESPN. "'You're last in the ACC' -- oh, that's funny, now we're first in the Coastal."
Duke quarterback Anthony Boone is 157-for-237 (66.2%) for 1,695 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.
A trip to the BCS title game stands between these two teams when Duke and Florida State take the field this afternoon.
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