Pitt vs. Louisville College Football Picks:The Pitt Panthers and Louisville Cardinals match-up on Friday getting each schools 2009 college football BIG EAST campaign underway in a battle at Papa John's Stadium in Louisville with an 8:05 PM (ESPN2) kickoff.
College Picks oddsmakers at SPORTSBETTING.com list Pitt as 7-chalk ATS and -275 moneyline favorites versus Louisville with a 53 total. Cardinals backers are getting +235 moneyline odds as a home underdog. Louisville is 2-2 ATS as a home underdog in the Steve Kragthorpe era.
The fact that Pitt is coming into this game as the favorite - on the road- is not making Louisville backers very happy. It's not that Pitt has anything to do with the state of displeasure. it's the fact that the Louisville program has slipped while under head coach Steve Kragthorpe, who is about to be four-games into his third season. The coach says the Louisville team is making progress while the numbers hum a different tune. Louisville is 1-2 and ranks last in the BIG EAST in scoring offense, pass efficiency, rushin gdefense, kickoff coverage, sacks and first downs. That doesn't say alot for a team making progress. Louisville's only win came in week 1 against FCS Indiana State but has since lost two straight games to FBS schools Kentucky and Utah.
Pitt backers are equally restless as the Louisville folks. Pitt only has one conference championship since the league formed in 1993 and backers are wanting satisfaction in 2009. The Panthers were picked by many pundits in the pre-season to be the leagues best and want to see the team step up and show they can win. Pitt did not show much moxie last week when they choked away a 10-point early lead and lost 31-38 to NC State.
Wins against Youngstown State, Buffalo and Navy are nice but fans expect Pitt to win those games. They want to see a championship and expect the drive for that goal is tonight versus the Cardinals.
College Football Picks: Pitt is the better team but not by much. Take the Cardinals as a home dog +7.
