South Florida vs. Pittsburgh College Football Betting Odds

There is something that really stands out when we look at the South Florida vs. Pittsburgh college football betting odds. It's the idea that a 5-0 South Florida team stands to go 1-4 ATS. Assuming Pittsburgh were to not cover, they would be 0-5 ATS, though their straight up record would stand at 3-2, perhaps a little easier to swallow.

South Florida last year became the superior team with road odds in Pittsburgh set at -9 and they won by 11 points. Prior to this, Pittsburgh was seen as the top team. The Panthers were a -6 ½ favorite on the road in South Florida December of 2004.

Arriving in South Florida, the Panthers find themselves as a +13 ½ underdog.

Upon analyzing this line, Gambling911.com believes it should be more around -12. The line opened here at -13 so we would not expect it to fall beyond this number.

Nearly 80 percent of the early betting action was on the South Florida Bulls.

Pittsburgh has won against teams that were seen as being little competition to the Panthers with the notable exception of Iowa, whom they beat by one point at home as the 2 point favorite. On the road last week, Pittsburgh was the big -14 favorite against Syracuse, a team they beat by 10 points, failing to cover that spread.

Because South Florida has performed so poorly against the spread, it can be surmised that they are not exactly playing up to expectations this season. After three consecutive nail biters, South Florida exploded for a 41-10 victory at North Carolina State, finally winning against the spread.

The Panthers are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 conference games, 4-10 ATS vs. a team with a winning record and 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following a ATS loss. That's the good news, believe it or not.

They are are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game and 0-4 ATS playing on grass.

The Bulls, on the other hand, are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games. On the flip side, they are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. win.

USF's 31-point win was even more impressive considering the Bulls were without three defensive starters: All-American end George Selvie, nose tackle Terrell McClain and linebacker Brouce Mompremier.

"This was a statement for our defense," USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. "I was worried all week because of our depth. It's the first time we've had a complete game."

The defense finally played a complete game and for the first time against a Division I-A opponent this season, didn't not allow any second half points. However, the one negative was that the Bulls allowed 239 yards passing on only nine completions, an average of 26.6 yards per reception. The Bulls are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.

Pittsburgh is looking for its fourth 4-1 start over the last nine years, while the Bulls are looking to tie a school mark by starting off 6-0.

Pittsburgh will be looking for its third consecutive win over a ranked opponent. Pitt knocked off Cincinnati (No. 23) and West Virginia (No. 1) last year and is facing its first ranked opponent in South Florida (No. 10) this season.

The Panthers will be making their 15th appearance on ESPN's Thursday night football. Their first-ever Thursday night game came in 1992 against Rutgers. The Panthers lost that game, 21-16, but won their next four contests from 1993-97. Since the historic 21-17 win over Miami in 1997, the Panthers are just 1-8 on Thursday nights, with the lone win coming in 2004 against West Virginia. The Panthers will look to end a three-game skid on Thursday nights. Their last road win on Thursday night came at Rutgers, 21-10, in 1993.

Getting back to the ATS records of both teams - while it's hard to see South Florida going 1-4 ATS, it may be even more difficult to see Pittsburgh going 0-5 ATS with what would be a 3-2 straight up record.

In our opinion it would be difficult to bet against Pittsburgh in this game, yet the line and some stats, including that difficult to fathom ATS record for South Florida (assuming they win outright) will have us sitting on the sidelines for this one.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher