Against the Odds: Pitt is a heavy favorite in game against Syracuse

For the second week in a row, Pitt is expected to win its football game. The fact that the Panthers are being picked to win against Syracuse isn’t a big surprise. What is a bit surprising, though, is that the Panthers are such heavy favorites.

Most lines out of Vegas have Pitt expected to win by 20-22 points. That’s a large number in general, though you do often see large numbers like that in lopsided matchups against non-conference opponents. But in a conference game, a number that high is kind of rare.

Is it justified? I guess we’ll see on Saturday. Syracuse certainly has enough questions offensively to make you wonder if they can score points — questionable offensive line, weakened rushing attack by the decision of their top two backs to opt out for the season, and a passing game that hasn’t always looked great. Still, three touchdowns is a lot of points.

It’s also worth pointing out that, while Syracuse did ultimately lose its opener to a ranked North Carolina team, it wasn’t as bad as the 31-6 score indicated (it was 10-6 heading into the fourth quarter).

The Panthers looked great in a 55-0 opener against Austin Peay last weekend. In fact, they were darn near perfect. Pitt scored touchdowns on its first six drives of the game and, Austin Peay or not, that’s impressive. But while I don’t think winning the game by three touchdowns is out of the question, that’s still a lot of points in a conference game.

What do you think of the spread this week?

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