College Football Betting: ACC Odds Preview

While the ACC is no SEC, this conference is still packed full of talent and will provide more than it's share of excitement. Find out who the college football odds makers are expecting to walk away with the Atlantic Coast Conference Title.

The ACC will be dominated by the Atlantic Division where arguably three of the top teams in the conference play in Florida State, North Carolina State, and Clemson. FSU is ranked between 7th and 10th in the various preseason polls while NC State follows, but by a distant amount. In fact, many polls, or attempts at predicting the AP preseason poll do not even have NC State listed, but have the Clemson Tigers ranked. The remainder of the Atlantic division has Wake Forest, Maryland, and Boston College and none of those programs have the depth on either side of the ball to compete with FSU this season.

North Carolina State is the most under rated team in the ACC by my research and one that I believe will have a very strong ATS record this season. They return 14 starters with seven each on offense and defense. In the first three to four weeks of the College Football season, I identify teams that have 17 or more returning starters. However, in the case of the Wolfpack they are returning key position players among the returning 14 starters.

They will have four returning offensive linemen and nothing is more important to the chemistry of an offense than having the OL working together early in the season. That past game experience is invaluable for the Wolfpack and will give them a significant advantage over opponents early in the season. They also return all four starting defensive backs including David Amerson, who has 13 interceptions. Again, their defense will be very good against the pass despite having some holes in the linebacker corp. 

Returning Starters

Generally, If any college football team has 17 or more returning starters including the quarter and is facing an opponent with just 12 or fewer returning starters take the experienced team in the first three weeks of the schedule. 

Only Duke qualifies with 17 returning starters consisting of nine on offense and eight on defense. Duke’s quarterback Sean Refree is coming off a solid season throwing for 2,511 yards, 14 touchdowns in the last 10 games. Duke could be a surprise bowl team this season.

Teams that are returning 12 or fewer starters are Miami-Florida with four on offense and six on defense. Duke has a date with Miami-Florida at home on the last game of the regular season November 24, 2012. 

None of the following games occur in the first few weeks of the season, but I do beleive they are games worth a look when they come up on the schedule and will be potential plays on Duke University. 

Virginia University returns seven starters on offense and just four on defense. They will face Duke in Durham October 6 and this is a game where Duke could gain significant momentum with a win.

Virginia Tech is in a rebuilding season returning three starters on offense, but should have a strong defense with nine returning starters. This will be a tough assignment for Duke having to travel to Blacksburg October 13, as they ranked sixth worst in the FBS averaging less than 100 rushing yards per game in 2011.

Another game that Duke can win will when they travel to Wake Forest to face the Demon Deacons September 29. Wake Forest returns three starters on offense and seven starters on defense and this is a game that I have circled on the calendar.

Coastal Division

The Coastal division will be dominated by Virginia Tech and their biggest competition may come from their state rival Virginia Cavaliers as opposed to the Miami Hurricanes. Again, there is a significant drop off in talent with the likes of Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Duke rounding out the division.

The Betting Lines at the majority of shops show how dominant FSU and Virginia tech will be in their respective divisions. FSU is lined at +140 versus -170 for the field to win the ACC and are -190 favorites to win the Atlantic division at Five Dimes. 

Overall, the college football odds for the ACC teams are as follows:

Although Duke is not getting any respect as evidenced by the betting odds shown above, I do believe they will be vastly undervalued for the majority of the season. Moreover, only three teams are considered strong ones based on the odds with FSU, Virginia Tech, and Clemson. After those three teams, there is a steady mix of teams that have tons of holes in their defensive and offensive units. The ACC will have a potential national contender in FSU, but the conference as a whole will be one of the weaker in the FBS in 2012.