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Nobody thought this would be one of the marquee games of Week 10 but Pittsburgh takes on SMU with the Panthers 7-0 and Mustangs 7-1. Pittsburgh is 6-1 Against The Spread while SMU is 5-3 ATS.
Line Analysis and Action
- Opening Line - Pittsburgh opened at -7
- Line Trend - The line has mostly been sitting on the 7 but occasionally moved up to 7.5
- Sagarin Number - Sagarin has Pittsburgh as a -1 point favorite, which means we have a significant overlay. SMU's starting quarterback and top wide receiver dealing with injuries ahead of this matchup, which explains the big discrepancy
- Action - Action
Historic Comparables
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Preview
It is a somewhat unexpected matchup of Atlantic Coast Conference co-leaders to open November.
“When you're winning, every game is the next big game. ... so that's the exciting part,” Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee said. "We got to feel that a little bit last year when we went on the run late to win the conference.”
That was SMU's final season in the American Athletic Conference before the long-desired move into one of the power leagues. When the ACC schedule was released in late January, SMU fans immediately focused on the league opener against Florida State — even though it was the fifth game of the season. Pitt was a preseason pick to finish near the bottom of the expanded 17-team league. Instead they are trying to get to 8-0 overall for the first time since 1981
Eli Holstein’s 17 TD passes for Pitt are tied with Alex Van Pelt’s 1989 total for the most by a Panthers freshman.
“The only thing that matters is wins and losses,” Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi said. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, I think we’ll be in good shape in the end."
The Mustangs have set a school record winning their last 13 regular-season conference games, including all eight last year in their final AAC season. SMU has averaged 50.5 points over its last 12 home games, the only loss in that span being 18-15 to BYU in September without a touchdown.
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