FiveDimes recently released over/under regular season win totals for college football teams.

Here is an early season look at the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the ACC.

Over/under

FiveDimes has North Carolina State at 7.5 regular season wins. Last year, the Wolfpack went 7-5 in the regular season. The line features a better return on the over at -105, while the under is at -135.

The upside

It can’t get much easier than North Carolina State’s non-conference schedule. The Wolfpack face Troy, Eastern Kentucky, Old Dominion and South Alabama in the non-conference slate of games, all at the beginning of the year.

Go ahead and chalk up four wins. That’s one way to attempt to reach a bowl game.

The Wolfpack should continue to ride momentum from last season as they won four of their last five games. With four wins in the beginning of the 2015 season, North Carolina State will have won eight of nine games before hosting Louisville on Oct. 3.

That hot streak can likely be credited to quarterback Jacoby Brissett and running backs Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes, who all return this season. The Wolfpack also will be bolstered by all five defensive backs returning this season, along with plenty of experience in the front seven.

The downside

The schedule gets far harder after the first four games.

The Wolfpack will host the Cardinals, Clemson, Syracuse and North Caroline, while traveling to Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College and Florida State.

In games in which it should be favored, North Carolina State will have to travel to Wake Forest and Boston College. It’s likely that North Carolina State will be favored against Syracuse, but it got a tough draw by having to play Louisville, Florida State and Clemson, even with two of those three games at home.

It’s also not all peachy on the offensive end for the Wolfpack. The offensive line will be relatively inexperienced and the receiving corps is void of any proven weapons.

And the defense did play much better down the stretch, but there could be doubts that it reverts to its ways from earlier in 2014, when North Carolina State was mired in a four-game slump.

The verdict

Getting four wins right off the bat is a good sign for bettors. The only issue is if those games will help North Carolina State get any better. Sure, the Wolfpack will be 4-0 in September, but will those four wins actually stunt the growth for North Carolina State to achieve eight wins?

To get to eight wins, North Carolina State will have to win its home game against Syracuse, and must take care of business on the road against Boston College and Wake Forest. Then, it will have to either beat North Carolina, or win a game as an underdog.

That’s too much of a risk. Getting those four wins is nice, but don’t expect North Carolina State to show much improvement. The schedule is difficult and without a strong offensive line, expect the offense to take a step back. Take the worse return and go with the under.

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