We found out a few more pieces of information last week in the ACC.
Clemson is likely the team to beat in the ACC, while Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech waived goodbye to any chance they thought of having a respectable season.
We also found out that Louisville is getting better and North Carolina State isn’t quite what its record says it is.
Here are two games we’ll keep an eye on this weekend. Last week’s betting guide for each power-five conference went 6-4, with a 1-1 mark in the ACC. Overall for the season, the betting guides have been 5-5 in the ACC and 27-23 overall in the power-five conferences.
Miami at Florida State (-9.5)
We’re still waiting on Miami to come back from its dormant state in the last decade. Unfortunately for Hurricane fans, it doesn’t appear that this is the year.
Any other year, we may consider Miami, especially with the Seminoles playing like they are. In case you weren’t one of the five people watching the Florida State at Wake Forest game, the Seminoles almost had to go to overtime with the Demon Deacons. A late interception in the endzone sealed the victory, sending the ‘Noles into celebration mode…after beating Wake Forest.
Florida State is ripe for an upset, but it won’t come at the hands of Miami. The Hurricanes lost by two possessions to Cincinnati last week, and we anticipated in the preseason that Miami would have difficulties this year without the talent that graduated off of last year’s team.
The Hurricanes weren’t good with NFL talent. This year, without that talent, we didn’t believe Miami would be any good. We were thrown for a bit of a loop with such a dominating three-quarter performance against Nebraska, but we’ve seen how good the Cornhuskers have been this season.
This is still a rivalry game, but there’s a reason oddsmakers have this line at more than a touchdown. Florida State is far more talented and the Seminoles need a wake-up call every now and then to show up. Depend on Florida State showing up for this game and crushing the Hurricanes. — Go chalk with Florida State
Virginia (+10) at Pittsburgh
We’re fans of Pittsburgh as underdogs. The Panthers are not only 2-0 against the spread this year as underdogs, but since 2013, Pittsburgh is 8-4-1 against the spread.
However, we’re not as big of fans of the Panthers as favorites. This season, Pittsburgh is 1-1, and since 2013, the Panthers are 6-11 against the spread as favorites. Some teams just don’t handle the favorite role as well as others.
And in this game, we’re getting double digits off a bye week. Sure, the Cavaliers haven’t been very good, other than a near-win at home against Notre Dame. The last time we saw the Cavaliers, they were getting trounced at home to Boise State.
But with a week off, we like the opportunity to renew the focus toward the ACC season. The Panthers are coming off a big win on the road last week against Virginia Tech. Expect a letdown this week and anticipate Pittsburgh not handling the favorite role well. We’re not taking Virginia straight up, but we’ll take them against the spread. — Go against the chalk with Virginia
Other ACC games
Odds provided by Oddsshark
North Carolina State at Virginia Tech (Even)
Duke (-12) at Army
Wake Forest at Boston College (-8)
Georgia Tech at Clemson (-7)
Syracuse at South Florida (-3)
