Keyword research is the backbone of organic growth. While you can certainly create content for purposes other than ranking in search engines, it’s one of the best long-term ways to generate traffic to your website.

Like other forms of marketing, ensuring your research is usable and organized is an ongoing challenge. And it only gets more difficult the more data you have.

Here’s a look at my favorite keyword research templates to help you stay on track.

The best keyword research template for monday.com

monday.com is a complete solution for project tracking and team collaboration that comes with additional tools for time tracking, team messaging, database management, and more.

There are more than 200 free templates covering every department, including marketing, task management, and HR to name a few. They’re all available on every plan (including free). With so many different ways to use it, monday.com is ideal for incorporating keyword research into your other workflows — and it’s really useful if you’re collaborating with a team.

monday.com: Keyword research template

monday.com’s keyword research template is one of the most straightforward on my list. I like it because it’s easy enough for beginners but still includes everything an SEO veteran needs to track.

Despite its simplicity, you can use it to research organic opportunities and PPC campaigns in one place without confusion.

monday.com makes it easy to sort by any column you’d like, customize the template with new columns, remove columns you don’t need, set up automations, view the same data in different ways, and even create charts in a few clicks.

I also appreciate how easy it is to leave detailed comments for different types of actions, including using a particular keyword to create new content or optimize an existing post.

Overall, the template is lightweight, laser focused, and easy to use.

ClickUp keyword research templates

ClickUp is another all-in-one project management and team collaboration platform. Although it’s not as customizable as monday.com, it offers more features and an easier learning curve. From team chat, project tracking, and collaborative brainstorming to document creation and slash commands, there’s not much it can’t do.

In terms of keyword research, ClickUp works really well if you want to take your research and then turn your analysis into action items that tie into tracked goals. You can easily assign tasks to team members, create sprints, and manage the entire process from a single dashboard.

With ClickUp’s generous free plan, you can use the keyword research templates below (and more) at no cost.

ClickUp: SEO and research management template

If you want more than a spreadsheet-style list of keywords and search data, I highly recommend the SEO & research management template from ClickUp. In addition to keyword research, it’s set up for competitor analysis and task management so you can turn your keywords into blog posts, landing pages, meta descriptions, and anything else you need.

ClickUp defines this as an intermediate-level template. But it’s easy enough for beginners who need something more.

The template is fully customizable, making it easy to conduct keyword research alongside other SEO priorities. For example, you can create a section for competitor analysis to see which keywords they’re ranking for and identify gaps on your own website. From there, you can create an action plan, assign tasks to team members, and track your progress using a Gantt chart.

It’s easy to import data, brainstorm ideas, and organize tasks into 27 preset status options.

I love the ability to customize and make the most of the tools I use — this template allows for that (and more), which is why it’s one of my favorites.

ClickUp: ChatGPT keyword research prompts

Effective keyword research requires knowing where to start. Tools like Ahrefs and Moz can be incredibly overwhelming if you’re brand new to SEO. Thankfully, ClickUp also offers a set of keyword research ChatGPT prompts to help you get started.

Rather than helping you organize keyword research, this template helps you come up with ideas so you’re not stuck staring at a blank screen. Instead of a table with a bunch of fields, you’ll see a blank document.

Hovering over the AI button and choosing “Write with AI” lets you use the prompts ClickUp provides. Alternatively, you can use them directly with ChatGPT or any other large language model (LLM) for the same results.

Normally, I wouldn’t recommend using AI because it doesn’t use data to generate suggestions. You may also find that you end up with generic suggestions.

That said, this template is a good starting point for complete beginners who aren’t ready to use more sophisticated keyword research tools.

Keyword research and SEO templates for Notion

Notion is a powerful, flexible, and customizable productivity tool. You can use it to track and manage just about anything, including keyword research and other SEO initiatives. Its free plan is a great place to start and more than enough if all you’re doing is tracking keywords.

There are dozens of free and paid Notion templates built by its thousands of users, but here are the best free options worth considering.

Notion: Blog manager for SEO

The blog manager for SEO makes it easy to track high-level projects, manage keyword research, and create SEO blog posts in one place. Notion’s built-in content editor makes it easy to do everything you need without needing to go anywhere else.

At a high-level, you can create projects that group keywords together, letting you stay hyper-focused on different topics. You’ll get a simple Kanban-style board for these.

Inside of each project, you can create content, assign to-dos, and track its status.

The keyword planner is where your keyword research and associated data lives. With four simple columns, you can tie keywords to projects, note search volume, and attach articles you will write or already have.

As an added bonus, this template includes a list of vetted SEO tools for different steps of the content research and creation process.

The same template creator (SEOperate) has free templates for on-page SEO, content optimization, schema markup, off-page SEO, and more.

Notion: Notion rank — keyword research

Managing keyword research for multiple websites or clients adds a new level of complexity. Not only do you need to know keyword data, you also need to keep them organized. The Notion rank — keyword research template does just that.

At the top, you’ll be able to manage a list of keywords for yourself so they’re not intermingled with the work you do for your clients. It allows you to track volume, global volume, difficulty, CPC, backlinks, intent, and where you got that data.

You can also give each keyword a due date and status to track content production. There are numerous views to make everything easier.

Below that, there’s a list of all of your clients. On the face of each card, you can see the total price and status. Clicking into each card shows you more details about the client as well as a list of keywords you’re focusing on for the client. Like the personal keyword table, you can track all of the same data and access all of the same views.

Notion: Keyword research hub

If you’re set on using Notion and want something simple, the keyword research hub is a great option. It’s about as simple as it gets, giving you a good place to start with plenty of room to customize and add-on later.

This template is a breath of fresh air if you want something easy and streamlined. With a simple “done” checkbox that moves keywords to the archives, you’ll be able to quickly see the status of each keyword on top of its volume, difficulty, and CPC.

You can also track keywords back to topics and prioritize as needed.

The same template creator (Gerrard Lipscombe) has dozens of free Notion templates for content planning, business operations, journey mapping, website planning, and project management.

Airtable keyword research and content production templates

If you’re a power user looking for a flexible relational database solution that can scale alongside you, Airtable is my top choice. I run just about every aspect of my business with it, including keyword research and content creation.

While it can work well for beginners and simple use cases, it’s really best for complex workflows with automations and a lot of data.

Its price tag reflects that. However, Airtable has a generous free plan if all you’re doing is tracking keywords or you want to try it out and see if it’s a good fit.

Airtable: Keyword research planning template

Although there’s nothing extravagant about the keyword research planning template, it’s a great option if you know your way around Airtable and don’t want to bother building something from nothing.

It has a lot of the elements and relations you’ll need but will likely require some customization on your part.

This Airtable template was created by Katrina Gallagher, founder of a UK-based digital marketing company. It has everything you need to start researching keywords, creating content, publishing content, analyzing your competitors, and mapping content to customer journeys.

The best part is that it’s set up to match the workflow of an actual agency.

For example, you can quickly transform keyword opportunities into content ideas. From there, you’ll be able to create tasks, manage production through a Kanban board, and attach content to different stages of your customer journey.

Overall, it’s easy to customize to match how you work, even if you don’t follow the same process.

Airtable: Next-gen SEO content planning and keyword matrix

This template is very similar to the other — it really doesn’t matter which one you start with if you know how to use Airtable. However, the next-gen SEO content planning and keyword matrix template comes pre-built with a products table that lets you tie keywords back to your products.

If you’re someone who appreciates example data, this template has just enough to show you how everything works — the other Airtable template does not.

Aside from that and the products table, the only major difference is that each table includes pre-built views of different filters you’ll likely need. These views are easy to create yourself, but having them there already means one less thing to worry about.

Like the other template, you can track keywords, personas, funnel stages, content, and content optimization activities, giving you a great place to start.

Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets templates

Prefer to use standard spreadsheets? They’re simple, fast, and often-times just as effective as all the tools I’ve covered so far for basic needs. Whether you use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, many keyword research templates are interchangeable as you can open both file types in both solutions.

Here’s a range of free keyword research templates for both.

Backlinko: SEO template for Excel

When it comes to SEO experts, Brain Dean is often mentioned at the top of the list. His website, Backlinko, has been around for ages. His free SEO template for Excel is simple and streamlined but powerful enough to work at scale.

This template makes it easy to track searches beyond Google. You can conduct keyword research for YouTube, Wikipedia, Reddit, and more — viewing everything from a single page.

It also includes a column for CPC so you can gauge how expensive certain keywords are. I really like the option to note trends and relevance, both of which should help when it’s time to start prioritizing content creation. You can also add columns for things like status or URL if you want to track production too.

Backlinko also has a Sheets version of this same template if you prefer to use that instead.

HubSpot: Keyword research template for Google Sheets

HubSpot’s research template shines for its simplicity. Rather than trying to cram too many things into a spreadsheet, HubSpot went with a minimalist approach that’s more than enough for most operations.

Although you have to provide some information to get the template, it’s absolutely free, even if you’re not a HubSpot customer.

Once you’ve filled out their form, a copy of this template will automatically open in Google Sheets. You can save it as a .XLS and open it in Microsoft Excel if that’s your preference.

It comes with columns for things like monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, current ranking position, and average CPC. You’ll also get fields for search intent, relevance, and growth trends. These tags are color-coded so it’s easy to spot your best opportunities.

Smartsheet: Excel on-page SEO checklist

Although this on-page SEO checklist isn’t explicitly for keyword research, it’s a nice addition if you need help navigating on-page SEO during content creation. You can download it for Excel, Word, or as a PDF.

When you’re ready to start writing and targeting the keywords you’ve found, this checklist walks you through how to use them and optimize each piece of content. It works well if you have freelancers or other team members writing for you and you want them to do their part.

The downside is that it doesn’t include anything for keyword research. However, you can easily copy it and add it as a separate sheet alongside your keyword tracker.

Alternatively, you can attach a new copy to every assignment so your team can check it off as they go.

Best practices for using keyword research templates

Keyword research templates are meant to help you stay organized. While simple in nature, they can get complicated very quickly, especially if you start to add in content production, analytics, or other types of data.

It’s easy to feel like you need to add everything, but it pays to focus on what you actually need. This will vary wildly from one person to the next.

However, you should be prepared to do a bit of customizing up front. Whether that means adding new fields, setting up new relationships to other tables, or removing fields you don’t need, it’s the best way to ensure the template doesn’t get in your way.

When you’re happy with your setup, it’s a good idea to live in for a while before making additional changes.

I fall into this trap all the time — I see new opportunities and get really excited about implementing them rather than actually creating content. Instead, I recommend waiting at least a few weeks and making a list of changes you’d like to make later.

After all, the whole point is finding keywords and targeting them.

How to create your own templates

If you just need something basic, you can easily create your own keyword research template in less than five minutes. You can use any of the tools on this list — I’d suggest whatever you’re most comfortable with.

All you need to do is create columns for different types of data. You’ll likely want to include:

• Keyword.
• Monthly search volume.
• Keyword difficulty.
• Secondary keywords.
• Average CPC.
• Competition level (low, medium, high).

Beyond that, it depends on what you need. If you’re planning to create new blog posts and assign them to your team, you may also want a way to track production, attach outlines, and brainstorm title ideas.

At the end of the day, the best template is one you’ll actually use. Be sure to focus on what you need rather than all the possibilities.

Should you pay for a keyword research template?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to this. If you just want a simple table that lets you track SEO data, you can probably create what you’re looking for on your own or use a free template.

But if you’re hoping for something that covers keyword research-adjacent functions like content production, project management, operations, or performance tracking, you may have better luck using a premium template.

Paid templates tend to be higher quality, regularly updated, and well documented. Plus, they usually require less customization on your part.

The same is true if you want something that seamlessly fits within your existing workflows and automations — it’s not uncommon for larger, more complex operations to hire someone to build an entirely custom SEO module.

However, most solo users, freelancers, and small teams can get by using free keyword research templates as long as they’re willing to customize up front.

The Atlanta Braves (WC2, 89-73) will face the San Diego Padres (WC1, 93-69) in the Wild Card round of the MLB postseason.

Here’s your one-stop shop for finding out where to watch the games and who will be suiting up for the Braves.

Consider this your TV guide to the Wild Card round. Let’s dive in.

Where to watch first pitch times:

All three games in the Wild Card round will be broadcast on an ESPN channel. Two on the main channel and one on ESPN 2. If you have ESPN Plus, you can sign up to a TV provider and watch the games through the app.

What you should know about the opponent:

The Padres enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in baseball. After hovering around .500 at the start of the All-Star break, they were 43-20 the rest of the way. They failed, but their late-season push gave them a chance to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West Division title.

The team features notable established stars such as six-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner Manny Machado, two-time All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr., three-time batting champion Luis Arreaz and four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts and five-time All-Star -Star Yu Darvish. Outfielder Jackson Merrill is a leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year.

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease is a strikeout machine, finishing just one punchout behind Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale as the NL’s strikeout leader.

As a team, the offense had the sixth-best OPS (.744), but the pitching only had the 12th-best ERA (3.86). It’s the opposite situation to the Braves, who have the best ERA (3.49) in MLB but only the 12th-best OPS (.724).

Likely starting pitchers:

BOULDER, Colo. — A new program in Boulder aims to help cover some of the costs of improving the fire resilience of homes most at risk in a wildfire.

The Wildfire Resilience Assistance Program recently launched and provides up to $1,000 to eligible property owners after they have a detailed home assessment completed by one of Boulder Fire Rescue’s Community Risk Reduction (CRR) specialists. The report, which determines how property owners can better protect their home, is free.

Homeowners will then receive an inspection report detailing which improvements are eligible for grant reimbursement.

Denver7 followed CRR specialist Steve Orr as he conducted a detailed home assessment in a neighborhood near the base of the Flatirons.

He mentioned positive features such as asphalt shingle roofs, which offer the highest level of fire resistance, coupled with metal gutters that are non-combustible. Even then, homeowners should make sure to remove flammable pine needles and leaves just in case embers spread to the gutters.

Landscaping plays a big role in keeping a home fireproof.

“There’s mulch here at the base of these bushes,” Orr noted as he walked around the house. “Embers can land and smolder in the mulch and then spread the fire upwards into the bushes directly adjacent to the combustible wood siding. And windows are a little vulnerable.”

Changes to a home or landscaping can be costly.

“Anyone who resides in our urban wildland interface can qualify for grants of up to $1,000 for specific items on their inspection report,” said Danielle McNutt, CRR senior program manager.

Boulder created the following map to help you determine if you live at a suitable address.

“I’m really looking forward to reaching residents who have never contacted us for a detailed home assessment and helping them along the way with a little grant assistance,” McNutt said.

Since the program launched in September, residents of 222 homes have registered for assessments and six have completed grant applications.

“Not only are they protecting their family and home, but they are also protecting our firefighters, which is really important,” McNutt said.

The deadline for this round of funding is November 30th. It is planned to start a second round of funding next year. The funding was made possible through the city’s climate tax, approved by Boulder voters in 2022, which provides funding to increase the city’s wildfire resilience.

More information about applying for the Wildfire Resilience Assistance Program and a list of frequently asked questions can be found here. The program is funded by Boulder’s climate tax.

Want to learn more about wildfire danger in Colorado? Colorado State University has released an interactive map, Colorado Wildfire Risk Viewer, that helps homeowners and business owners identify wildfire risk, dive into local fire history, and find wildfire prevention and mitigation resources. To view the map, click here.

Colorado State University

It’s debate day for Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

The Republican and Democratic VP nominees, who have both touted their Midwestern roots on the campaign trail, will face off in New York City. Tune into the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday, October 1st, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS or simulcast on www.usatoday.com.

The running mates will make their pitches to voters across the country, with Vance expected to focus on the southern border and Walz zeroing in on abortion access and other reproductive rights. The Ohio senator and Minnesota governor will also trade jabs on the economy and which ticket can bring down costs for Americans.

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. – Scott Aukamp, ​​a second-grade teacher at Smith-Wade-El Elementary School in Lancaster County, attended Wheel of Fortune Teachers’ Week and came home with his pockets full.

On Tuesday, September 24, Aukamp took the national television stage and won a total of $59,250, with $40,000 of his winnings coming from the bonus round and a trip to Barbados.

For the bonus round, Aukamp chose the topic “What are you doing?” and after choosing his consonants and vowels, he guessed the best answer on the first try.

In an interview with Maggie Sajak after Aukamp’s win, he said that he had been watching Wheel of Fortune for 40 years and that it had helped him achieve his ultimate goal.

When asked about playing during Teachers’ Week, he said: “This is a great opportunity that Wheel of Fortune provides to honor teachers. I met some amazing people backstage. Everyone deserves it and I hope everyone goes home with lots of money and prizes and stuff like that.”

Aukamp was accompanied on victory day by his wife Susan.

Democratic strategist Keith Boykin refused to accept Rep. Byron Donald’s repeated lies in defense of Trump after the Florida congressman claimed the former did not call for a day of violence and that crime was skyrocketing in the country.

CNN anchor Abby Phillips played a clip of Trump advocating violence during a rally and asked, “Why isn’t this violent rhetoric?”

Donalds refused to answer the question and tried to change the subject. He then claimed that crime had “massively increased” in the country, which was another lie. Enter Keith Boykin.

DONALDS: We need to acknowledge the reality of what’s going on in every city in America.

BOYKIN: I’m not answering the question. I’m not answering the question.

DONALDS: That’s the answer to the question because the reality in America. Wait, Keith. The reality in America is that crime is on the rise.

BOYKIN: Crime has not increased massively! That’s a lie!

You’re lying, Congressman.

You lie.

DONALDS: We already know that there are cities…

BOYKIN: Crime The FBI just released data this week that crime is going down. You know… you know that…

Oh my god, why…

Abby, why are you letting this man lie like this on your national television?

DONALDS: I’m not lying. I’m telling you the exact truth. You may not want to… You may not want to…

No, I don’t, because you are now lying to the American people. That’s why I want to be respectful of what you want to say.

PHILLIPS: Congressman, wait a minute.

BOYKIN: If you would just let me talk, I would tell you exactly what you want me to say. We have the data.

The FBI literally released data today showing that crime was down in the first six months of the year this year.

Boykin’s tactics must be observed and then repeated by television hosts and guests whenever a Republican surrogate is on the air spouting MAGAt talking points based on lies and conspiracy theories.

Trump said we needed a “day of violence” by police and imitated the movie “The Purge” to kill and maim all criminals or those suspected of being criminals.

The closer we get to November 5th, the more crazy and unhinged Trump becomes.

The country doesn’t need liars like Rep. Byron Donald paraphrasing and defending Trump’s madness.

Artificial intelligence tools, such as large language models (LLMs) and ways to use AI to market to new clients, are proving extremely useful for financial advisors. But they also pose new risks that are heavily assessed by regulatory bodies such as FINRA and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In recent weeks, authorities have addressed issues with emerging risks such as “AI washing,” where a company overstates its use of AI; Hallucinations that may occur when using models such as ChatGPT; and ethical concerns about using data to personalize marketing tactics to individuals.

“We need to understand not only how these models work, but also the opportunities and risks presented by each of the available models, particularly in generative AI,” said Brad Ahrens, senior vice president of advanced analytics at FINRA, on September 27 spoke at the Self-Regulatory Authority’s Advertising Regulatory Conference.

Preventing AI woes through regulation

A week before the FINRA conference, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler issued a somewhat humorous warning about and compared AI the film “Her”, in which an AI assistant Samantha forms a romantic bond with her user who relies too much on AI.

“Regulators and market participants, I think, need to think about what it means to have potentially 8,316 heartbroken financial institutions relying on an AI model or data aggregator,” Gensler said during his Sept. 19 speech Video “Office hours.” “Let’s do our best to keep this grief out of our capital markets.”

However, problems with AI tools are not always the most obvious cases, as when the The SEC charged two consulting firms in March for misleading the public by exaggerating the use of AI or the well-known hallucinations in large language models and so-called AI “deepfakes”.

Officials are weighing how companies use AI dictation services in meetings and whether a company’s employees are overly aware that that data can leak into the public learning models of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.

“If you use openai.com or anthropic.com, you should be concerned about your employees using that because there is a possibility that data could flow back into the models,” Ahrens said. “It’s happening.”

Another area where FINRA is seeing more AI use cases, according to Ahrens, is where a company uses chatbot-like AI to answer or summarize a question, such as how to handle disputes, if it is in an investment property There are multiple tenants in the property.

“A lot of companies use an LLM there, and they can just have the company put in a prompt or question that says, ‘What do I do if there’s a tenant dispute?’ And it will take them directly to the content of the manual using something called retrieval augmented generation,” he said.

FINRA didn’t necessarily take a position on this type of AI use, but officials stressed the importance of having a human monitor and compliance procedures on the back end or at the bottom line.

“How do you make sure this genetic AI works the way it’s supposed to? In other words, how do you monitor their use,” said Philip Shaikun, vice president and associate general counsel in FINRA’s Office of General Counsel. “You want to be sure that you have certain types of procedures in place, keeping a human updated and doing spot checks.”

That too applies to technology providerswhich both FINRA and the SEC have strongly emphasized and companies need to monitor closely. Amy Sochard, vice president of FINRA’s advertising regulation division, said companies need to double check with their existing vendors who may have transitioned their technology to AI since the contract was first signed.

For example, “If you didn’t update the vendor contract because it was a two-year contract, and you notice that they’re now using some kind of generative AI,” she said. “You need to know about this.”

AI could open the door to exploitative advertising

FINRA has updated its Rule 2210 guidance in May to incorporate the use of chatbots and AI in communications with investors and the public. While Ahrens said they “don’t see a lot of customer-facing use cases” due to the increased risks, they are seeing more “hyper-personalization of ads.”

This presents challenges to the use of AI and machine learning tools to track a customer and their behavior based on their so-called “digital footprint” for marketing.

“It opens the door to exploitative advertising tactics where advertisers may know more about a digital user than the person knows what they are giving up. And this is where we want to start talking about ethics,” said Rachael Chudoba, a senior planning and research strategist at McCann Worldgroup, a global advertising network.

Chudoba, who spoke at the FINRA conference, said that companies need to ensure that their teams are not only informed about the ethical concerns surrounding AI, but that they also understand how these are applied to the various tools and how they are used Tools work.

“For example: Is your bias and ethics training up to date to include generative AI situations? “Are your teams comfortable accessing and learning about AI legal and policy guidance?” she said. “And are you educating your teams on the systems you want them to use so they feel like the tools are explainable and transparent to them?”

FINRA relies on AI for sentiment analysis

FINRA itself is also experimenting with AI tools and behavioral data analysis. For example, AI is used to detect the sentiment of public comment letters submitted during a proposed rulemaking process, rather than requiring an individual to read thousands of comment letters.

“It’s not just a simple feeling that you’re used to – like happy, sad or mythical – it’s more about finding out: who wrote it, where did it come from? Then we group these. And then we actually go deeper into that feeling,” Ahrens said. “We have a number of use cases that are already in progress.”

The ACC rivals square off this weekend when Florida State hosts No. 15 Clemson on Saturday night in Week 6 of college football.

Florida State’s season went into a tailspin right from the start, starting with an overall score of 1-4 and a score of 1-3 in ACC play. Now the concern is that quarterback DJ Uiagalelei won’t play for the next few weeks while he recovers from a broken finger.

Clemson started on the wrong end with a 31-point loss to Georgia but rebounded to win three straight games, including a 2-0 start in the ACC as the 14th-ranked offense in the country.

Looking ahead to this week’s matchup, let’s take a look at the latest college football predictions from computer prediction model Football Power Index.

The model simulates every NCAA college football game 20,000 times, utilizes key analytics from both teams and selects winners based on a projected point spread per game.

So far this week the models are strongly siding with the street team.

Clemson is the index favorite and is projected to win the game in most 80 percent of the computer’s latest simulations.

That leaves Florida State as the expected winner in the remaining 20 percent of the sims.

Overall, Clemson won in 16,000 of the computer’s 20,000 simulations, while Florida State came out on top in the other 4,000 predictions.

According to the model’s latest projection, with both teams’ current makeup, Clemson is expected to be 12.6 points better than Florida State on the same field.

If so, that wouldn’t be enough to cover the spread.

That’s because Clemson is a 14-point favorite against Florida State, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel lists the total score for the game at 47.5 points.

And the moneyline odds for the overall win were set at -700 for Clemson and +500 for Florida State.

A majority of bets have the Tigers facing the Seminoles this week, according to the latest spread consensus recommendations.

Most bettors – 75 percent of them – expect Clemson to win the game and cover the spread.

The remaining 25 percent of bettors expect the Seminoles to keep the game within 2 touchdowns or win in an upset.

Clemson is second among ACC teams with a 33.6 percent chance of qualifying for the College Football Playoff and will win 9.5 games this season, according to FPI data.

This model predicts Florida State will win 3.7 games and has a 5.3 percent chance of appearing in a bowl game.

The college football rankings Football Power Index (FPI) and computer prediction model is a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.

Rankings and score predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season and games and use a combination of key analytics including recent results, quality of opponents, team talent, recruiting and a team’s schedule.

The teams are not ranked by talent as in other rankings, but by a expected points lead per game against an average team on a neutral field.

First place votes in parentheses

1. Alabama (40)
2. Texas (19)
3. Ohio State (4)
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Penn State
8. Miami
9. Missouri
10. Michigan
11. USC
12. Ole Miss
13. LSU
14. Notre Dame
15. Clemson
16. Iowa State
17. BYU
18. Utah
19. Oklahoma
20. Kansas State
21. Boise State
22. Louisville
23. Indiana
24. Illinois
25. UNLV and Texas A&M (tie)

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The game odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and needs help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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More college football from SI: Top 25 rankings | schedule | teams

Follow College Football Headquarters: bookmark | Rankings | Selection

The death of legendary singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson brings back fond memories for many Orillia residents of his time in the Sunshine City more than 30 years ago.

Kristofferson was in Orillia with stars Brian Keith, JoBeth Williams and Sam Waterston to film a film titled Welcome Home about a Vietnam veteran who returns to his family after being away for almost 20 years and tries to readjust to life. The film was released in 1989.

The home at 68 Tecumseth St., known as the Bartlett House, featured prominently in the film, which had a budget of $11 million. At that time the house belonged to Reid Asselstine.

Former city councilwoman Pat Hehn lives a few doors up the street and remembers the hustle and bustle of the time her son David was cast as an actor in the film.

“They were looking for a paperboy, and he had a route through Tecumseth,” Hehn recalled Tuesday.

“He should throw the paper under the bushes. They must have shot that scene where he’s driving up and down the street at least ten times. It’s pretty steep there. He was a tired kid,” she said, laughing.

In this scene, Kristofferson was across the street where his character was spying on his former wife’s house.

Carmen Novosky, who met Kristofferson 35 years ago when he was in town for the film, also had fond memories of the charismatic star’s time in Orillia.

“My friend Luba Paolucci wanted to meet him, so I held her two children while she walked to the location where they were filming,” she remembers.

“I was standing near a trailer and he came straight up to me and started talking to me. He asked about the children. He was just charming.”

She said the film shoot was on everyone’s lips.

“The crew came toward us at some point,” a reporter told the Orillia Packet & TimesNovosky said.

“They took a photo of him and I was right behind it so it looked like he was holding the two kids,” she recalled of the image that appeared on the magazine’s cover package The next day. “All you could see was my ear.”

Novosky recalled that the cast and crew stayed at the old Sundial Inn during filming.

“The locals saw him jogging along what is now the Burnside Line and gave him his privacy,” she said.

Local historian Marcel Rousseau shared a story about Kristofferson’s time in Orillia on his Orillia Past and Present Facebook page.

“I remember when he was in town. “I knew a friend who was going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the time,” Rousseau wrote.

“He told me that he was at one of the meetings when a new colleague showed up, and when he was asked to speak, he stood up at the front and said, ‘Hello, my name is Kris and I’m an alcoholic.’

“He certainly impressed a lot of AA members at the time. His influence would have helped many people,” Rousseau concluded.

Paolucci and Novosky had another contact with Kristofferson when he performed at Casino Rama in 2017.

“We had front row tickets and when I looked over I saw Gordon Lightfoot in the wings. Gordon came out and the second song was Me and Bobby McGee“Novosky remembered fondly.

Born in Texas, Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, a Rhodes Scholar and a U.S. Army helicopter pilot.

In 1965 he resigned his position to pursue his love of music. He began sweeping floors at a studio in Nashville, where he met Johnny Cash. He finally caught Cash’s attention and his big musical break when he landed his helicopter in Cash’s garden to get him to listen to his songs.

He was a three-time Grammy winner. In addition to singing and songwriting, he was also an actor. The Internet Movie Database states that he had acting roles in 118 productions.

Kristofferson died on Saturday at the age of 88.