FiveDimes recently released over/under regular season win totals for college football teams.
Here is an early-season look at the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC.
Over/under
FiveDimes has Miami at 5.5 regular season wins. Last year, the Hurricanes went 6-6 in the regular season. The line features a more favorable under to bettors at +120, while the over is at -160.
The upside
The Hurricanes don’t have far to go to reach the over.
That number is especially attainable since schedule-makers handed the Hurricanes two wins in the first two games against Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic.
Miami will lean on its ACC Rookie of the Year quarterback Brad Kaaya to deliver better results for the Hurricanes. Kaaya will be the main weapon, as the Hurricanes graduated several starters off last year’s offense, including Duke Johnson and three offensive linemen.
The offense will be young, but Miami has a host of up-and-comers in the specialty positions. In addition, Miami has a host of games that should be toss-ups entering the season.
Games against Nebraska, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Pittsburgh are all toss-ups, and if the Hurricanes can get on a roll, then the over will be smooth sailing.
The downside
Yes, the Hurricanes only need six wins. But this isn’t the 1980s anymore.
Miami has plenty of winnable games. But those also are just as likely to be losses. Other than the first two games of the season, there’s not another game where the Hurricanes will be heavy favorites. It’s difficult to assess how many games the Hurricanes will actually be favored (other than the season’s first two games), but it could be as high as six or as little as one.
The youth on the offensive line should scare bettors, along with an unproven defense that just hasn’t been a strength in recent years for the Hurricanes.
Another alarming factor is that Miami keeps having players drafted, but continues hovering around .500. Miami plays like a team without any future NFL players, and when there’s just not as many experienced NFL-ready players on the starting roster, what’s that team going to look like?
The verdict
The betting public will find out in week three what kind of Miami team will take the field this year. The Hurricanes host Nebraska, which is a pivotal game in Miami hitting the six-win mark.
If betting the over, hold your breath and hope for the Hurricanes to be resilient during the month of October. Miami goes on the road during that month to Cincinnati, Florida State and Duke, and hosts Clemson and Virginia Tech.
The Hurricanes could easily win three of those games or lose all five. There’s just plenty of unknowns entering the year.
This pick doesn’t feature much confidence and is being made based on the better return on the under. Oddsmakers are banking on bettors taking the over, meaning the under will reap far better results. Don’t be too confident in the under, but bet on the Hurricanes winning less than six games.
