The Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., came up with a nice college football matchup for today's (Dec. 28) game with ACC member North Carolina State (8-4) and No. 22(AP) West Virginia (9-3) of the BIG EAST going head to head. Both of these schools had chances to be playing on a bigger BCS stage had they taken care of business in the final days of the 2010 college football season.
Oddsmakers at most offshore sportsbooks list West Virginia as -3 spreads favorite versus North Carolina State with a posted 49 total in Tuesday's 2010 Champs Sports Bowl.
All the Wolfpack had to do to win the 2010 ACC Atlantic Division championship was defeat an unpredictable Maryland team on the road in their last regular season game on Nov. 27. A week earlier, the Pack had defeated its arch-rival North Carolina on the road at Chapel Hill in a 29-25 thriller. Who knows why the Pack, a superior team to Maryland, lost that game, but it happened and as a result, the Wolfpack are headed to a lower tier bowl.
West Virginia was the pre-season pick to win the BIG EAST, but back to back mid-season losses to Syracuse and Connecticut turned out to be the Mountaineers undoing. The Mountaineers still had a chance to win the BIG EAST, but needed some help that never came. So the Mountaineers, considered underachievers, head into the Champs Sports Bowl to play the Wolfpack.
West Virginia finished the season on a roll, getting SU wins in its final four games while covering the spreads in three of the four with a push in the last game with Rutgers. The Mountaineers were one of the nations most dependable teams for backers at the betting window, as they covered the spreads seven times with the one push. The Mountaineers only failed to cover the betting spreads three times all season.
Betting the UNDER was profitable for totals players in games West Virginia played. The combined point total fell UNDER in seven of 11 lined games; however the OVER cashed back to back in their last two games played at Pittsburgh and to Rutgers at home.
Defense ruled in games the Wolfpack played when it comes to betting totals as the UNDER cashed in six of 10 lined games. State was even better in covering game spreads cashing for backers in eight of 11 games.
Both teams, West Virginia and North Carolina State are similar in that they are balanced on offense and defense. Both have skilled quarterbacks, Geno Smith at West Virginia who leads Bill Stewart's spread offense. Smith threw for over 2,500 yards and 23 touchdowns this year. Senior quarterback Russell Wilson led the second best offense in the ACC with 3,288 yards through the air and 26 touchdowns.
Champs Sports Bowl Prediction : I predict the Wolfpack will cover the spread as a +3 point underdog.
