East Carolina Opens As 2.5 Point Favorite Over Bearcats

That means that the game is essentially a pick'em in the eyes of the Las Vegas types. Or they are assuming that this will be a game that is all about the #CollegeKickers. Personally I think that this is a game that will be close and down to the wire.

In the case of both offenses the strength of those groups is matched up with the weakness of the opposition. The Pirates are one of only two teams that rank worse against the pass than the Bearcats do* according to S&P+. In short the expectation is that points will be plentiful, and an environment like that a one point line makes a bit of sense

* Tulsa is the other if you were wondering.

The other weird thing about this is that the Bearcats are going to be underdogs for a home Thursday night game. Thursday night's have been very, very good to the Bearcats since the dawn of the Brian Kelly era. Hopefully it will continue to be this week.