Five ACC College Football Betting Predictions in 2019

When it comes to ACC football, there is Clemson…and then there is everyone else. The ACC Coastal division is not seen as particularly suspenseful, either, with Miami picked as a favorite. The emergence of Virginia will be a nice development to see, but it’s hard to see them pushing past Miami to win that division. Even so, if you look a little further down the conference standings, there is some intrigue that could unfold — and that could make you some money if you take advantage with your college football betting decisions. Here are five bold predictions that we have for ACC football action this fall.

Five ACC College Football Betting Predictions in 2019

The reigning national champs return a loaded offense and young defense as they look to attack another championship this year 🏆#ALLIN | @ClemsonFB pic.twitter.com/JEHv3UEN8m

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) August 13, 2019

Louisville faces a brutal rebuilding season

Last year marked the end of Bobby Petrino’s second run at Louisville. His fall from grace has been significant — between 2003 and 2006, he led the Cardinals to a 41-9 record and then went to Atlanta to coach the NFL’s Falcons for 13 games, until he resigned with a 3-10 record to take the head job at the University of Arkansas. He guided the Razorbacks to an 10-3 finish in 2011 and an 11-2 finish in 2012 but then left after an embarrassing personal incident.  In 2018, Louisville fired Petrino after ten games — and in five of those games, Louisville permitted at least 50 points. Louisville went after Purdue’s Jeff Brohm but instead got Appalachian State’s Scott Satterfield. The new coach did lead his team to ten wins last year, but the culture — and finding a quarterback to replace Lamar Jackson — mean that the Cardinals might end up in the ACC basement.

Duke will fall back to earth

Daniel Jones quarterbacked the Blue Devils to significant success last year, throwing for 2,674 yards and 22 scores. However, Duke only won three ACC games — two of them by just one score. Duke faces Alabama and Notre Dame in non-conference play this year — and they have to break in a new quarterback. David Cutcliffe has a reputation for developing signal callers, but he has a full plate in front of him.

Pitt is a sleeper in the ACC Coastal

Pitt won four of six to finish the 2018 campaign, winning the ACC Coastal before enduring demolition at the hands of Clemson in the conference title game. In that stretch, their only losses came at Notre Dame (by five points), who would go to the College Football Playoff, and a 21-point loss to Miami. A lot of prognosticators have Pitt somewhere near fourth or fifth place in the ACC Coastal this year, but there is nothing certain about Virginia Tech staying above them, and with a few fortunate wins again this year, the Panthers could be right there at the end again.

Miami won’t win with their offense — but with their defense

Michael Pinckney and Shaquille Quarterman could both finish first-team All-ACC at the linebacker position, and linebackers are crucial in the Miami defensive scheme. Miami’s talent trio on offense consists of Tate Martell, N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams, but they are not the sort to put up huge numbers. Instead, the Hurricanes will grind out wins — possibly enough to win the Coastal, but that division will be closer than a lot of people think.

Florida State’s offense will take off

Kendal Briles comes to town as the new offensive coordinator, and he has shown that he can turn around offenses in a hurry. Briles uses his scheme to spread defenses horizontally across the field, which opens the field up wide for runners. Before scandal hit Baylor, the Bears entered a bowl game against North Carolina using their fourth-string quarterback.