ACC Football Odds: North Carolina An Underdog, BC Favored In Openers
The North Carolina Tar Heels will be the first Atlantic Coast Conference squad to open its 2015 season when they take the field Thursday against the South Carolina Gamecocks as 3-point betting underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Tar Heels are 0-2 straight up and 1-1 against the spread in their past two games against their Southeastern Conference rival and will look to rebound from a year of inconsistency
North Carolina’s 6-7 finish in 2014 marked the first time since 2007 that the team failed to post a winning record. However, the Tar Heels sport solid -150 odds of winning over 7 1/2 games in the season ahead at the sportsbooks.
The Duke Blue Devils also will see action Thursday night when they visit the Tulane Green Wave as 7-point betting favorites.
The Blue Devils let the ACC Coastal Division title slip away last season, losing two of their last three regular-season contests to finish one game back of Georgia Tech with a 5-3 conference record.
However, Duke has enjoyed recent success against Tulane entering Thursday night’s Blue Devils vs. Green Wave betting matchup at Yulman Stadium with wins in their last two meetings, easily covering as double-digit favorites in each game.
The Boston College Eagles open their 2015 campaign Saturday when they play host to the Maine Black Bears at Alumni Stadium. The Eagles will look to get a fast start against a team they dominated in a September matchup last season, winning 40-10 as 23.5-point favorites.
With their non-conference schedule including dates against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and defending Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois, a Week 1 win over Maine will be critical to the Eagles’ attempt to equal last year’s seven-win total and finish over their posted win total for the upcoming season of 5 1/2 at the sportsbooks.
In other Week 1 action around the ACC, the Virginia Cavaliers head West to take on the UCLA Bruins as 19.5-point underdogs. The Cavaliers failed to record a SU win on the road in 2014, going 2-3 ATS, while the Bruins kick off the season ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25.
The Louisville Cardinals battle the No. 6 Auburn Tigers as 11-point underdogs Saturday at the Georgia Dome in the weekend’s other ACC/SEC showdown, while the N.C. State Wolfpack welcome the Troy Trojans to town as heavy 26-point favorites and the Florida State Seminoles clash with the Texas State Bobcats as heavy 29-point home favorites.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
