Against the Odds: Pitt favored against Georgia Tech

Pitt faces Georgia Tech this weekend as the Panthers look to win their second straight game. But while the Yellow Jackets are one of the worst teams in the ACC, oddsmakers aren’t calling for a blowout.

As of Monday, the Panthers were favored by only 6 ¹⁄₂ points. That line was down just a bit from the open of 7 ¹⁄₂ points.

The lines typically sound about right to me. However, I was a little surprised not to see the Panthers favored by a bit more here. Pitt just came off of a game where they dominated Florida State, winning 41-17, and the Yellow Jackets, like Florida State, are only 2-5 on the year. Georgia Tech does get the game at home but Pitt just walloped the Seminoles while playing on the road, too.

Part of it might be that Georgia Tech will be coming off a bye while Pitt is coming off a week that they had to travel. Still, Georgia Tech hasn’t been very impressive at all, barely beating the Florida State team by three that Pitt just defeated by 24. The Yellow Jackets were also the only team to lose to 1-7 Syracuse this year and were dominated by a Boston College team that Pitt played evenly, before losing by one. Georgia Tech’s only other win came against Louisville — a team that Pitt also beat (albeit, by a much lesser margin).

No guarantee that Pitt covers, obviously. But this is one of those games where I could have made the argument for the spread being a little larger.

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