The Florida State Seminoles may be undefeated, but they are not as dominant as they were last year, but new reports suggest that may be because Jameis Winston is shaving points.
According to TMZ Sports, the NCAA is looking into Winston's involvement with a point-shaving scheme to help a friend win $5,000. The game in question is the Louisville game, but Winston has thrown six interceptions in his last three games after throwing 10 all last season.
Late last week, TMZ Sports reported the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) had opened its own probe into defensive end Chris Rabb's involvement in the scheme. UAB confirmed the investigation, but declined to comment further. The NCAA did not comment either.
TMZ also learned that the FBI may or may not be investiagting the matter.
Winston and Rabb were teammates at Hueytown High School and the TMZ report states Winston shaved points during the Seminoles' Oct. 30 win over Louisville. In that game, Winston threw three interceptions and completed 52 percent of his passes, but also three touchdowns and 401 yards.
Louisville has one of the most well rounded defenses in the nation and the Seminoles have been able to coast through a weak ACC schedule. However, they have struggled with stronger teams, as they lost some key players from last year to the NFL Draft.
Winston has not commented on these new allegations, but the Associated Press quoted him acknowledging after the win over Virginia that his interceptions are becoming a problem.
"I'm hurting this team, I really am," he said. "Make smarter decisions, stop always looking for the big play.
"I stressed about checking the ball down and making smart decisions, and I've got to go back to that. I can't be careless with the ball."
Point shaving is the act of a sports gambler and an athlete (or a group of athletes) conspiring to fix a bet. The gambler will bet against the athlete's team and then bribe him to ensure that his team does not cover the spread. In football - with quarterbacks - this usually results in the athlete intentionally making bad passes so his team wins with a smaller margin than the sportsbook set out ahead of time.
