The last two years, these two programs have played each other very competitively. Both of the last two matchups were decided by 6 points or less. Last season Syracuse had a double digit lead in the 4th quarter on the road at Clemson, but ended up losing that game. If you date back this rivalry further, 4 of the last 6 matchups have been decided by 6 points or less. Last week Clemson suffered a devastating loss at home to Florida State, while Syracuse handled business against Army. Syracuse is 4-0 this season. Their most impressive win came on the road against Purdue. Syracuse has a 5th year senior at QB (Garrett Shrader). The team was 6-0 last season prior to Shrader getting injured. They finished the season 1-5 without him, but the good news for Syracuse is that Shrader is healthy and playing very well. Clemson has one of the highest graded defenses in the nation. However, their offense continues to have problems. Syracuse has the more established QB, and a very sound defense. The JMA Wireless Dome will be loud. This Syracuse fanbase is hungry for a win against their conference rivals. In what should be a competitive conference matchup, we will take the 7 points with the home dogs.

James Madison is 4-0 to start the season, largely due to their defense. JMU’s defense is dominant against the run. They currently lead the FBS in allowing just over 40 rush yards per game. South Alabama likes to lean on their run game, which will be a tough task against the JMU defense. South Alabama went into Oklahoma State a couple weeks back and blew them out 33-7 as 7 point underdogs. However, South Alabama followed that win up by losing outright to Central Michigan as a 17 point favorite last week. This game will be played at Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field right on the JMU campus. This is one of the biggest games in JMU’s football programs history. Our wager is a half unit on JMU to find a way to win this game behind their defense.

It’s very surprising to us that the books are willing to give 3 points behind the home team. Ole Miss lost on the road to Alabama last week, but they looked phenomenal for the first half of that game. Bama was able to get it rolling in the second half and pull out a 14 point win. The game was more competitive than the final score indicates. LSU has a lot of talented players, including Heisman candidate QB Jayden Daniels. Ole Miss has a very talented QB of their own with Jaxson Dart. This is one of the most talented groups that Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has had in his coaching tenure. Ole Miss has a top 20 ranked offense and defense. This is a true home game for Ole Miss. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is going to be a loud and hostile environment. We will gladly take the 3 points with this extremely talented Ole Miss group.

This East Carolina football team is an unimpressive 1-3 on the surface. When you dive a little deeper, you’ll find that this is a program that had an extremely tough schedule through the first month of the season. ECU opened the season up on the road against a powerhouse Michigan team. ECU’s offense struggled, but their defense held Michigan to just 30 points. ECU covered the spread with ease. Next ECU played a Marshall team that is currently 3-0, and has a lot of talent. They lost that game, and then went on the road to Appalachian State. ECU lost to Appalachian State largely due to 3 interceptions thrown by their QB. In ECU’s first favorable matchup last week, they won 44-0 as -13.5 favorites. Rice was a 3 point favorite against South Florida last week and lost the game by double digits. Our model suggests this game should be closer to a pick 'em, so we will gladly grab the 3.5 points behind the road team. Our wager is a half unit.

Pitt was a popular underdog pick last week against North Carolina. They ended up losing 41-24, as the Pitt offense could not keep up with Drake Maye and the Tar Heels high powered offense. That being said, this Pitt defense is very good. North Carolina averaged just 2 yards per carry last week. This Virginia Tech offense is nowhere near as dynamic as the offense Pitt faced last week in UNC. Both of these teams are 1-3. However, Pitt is ranked much higher in the power rankings of highly respected data resources such as PFF. Conference road games are never easy, but we like Pitt’s chances of pulling out a win here. Our wager is a half unit on Pitt to win this game by 2 points or more.