College Football Free Picks: Miami-FL at Pittsburgh

College football betting on Thursday with a big nationally televised game between the Miami Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Panthers. Oddsbay has you covered with the best handicapping available anywhere no matter the season or the sport!
MIAMI-FL AT PITTSBURGH--SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 4:45 PM PACIFIC
The Miami Hurricanes are one of the teams that the 'public' loves to bet. How else can you explain the line on this game? The Pitt Panthers have gone 19-7 SU in the last two seasons and in their only competitive game of the season played an underrated Utah team very tough (the Utes deserve a higher ranking than #13, but that's a different can of worms entirely). Miami, meanwhile, was completely outclassed and overwhelmed by #2 Ohio State. The Hurricanes didn't score an offensive touchdown until the final series of the game (their other two TDs came on kickoff returns). Despite all of this, Miami is a -4 road favorite which implies that they're more than a touchdown better than Pittsburgh on a neutral field.
We definitely don't see it that way and think the Panthers are being serious underrated in this matchup. While there are few defensive lines in college football that can compare with Ohio State but Pittsburgh is pretty solid themselves. The defensive line returns only two starters but they’re good ones—defensive ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard are among the best in college football. The overall defense may not have the size and speed of the Buckeyes, but the Panthers won't be easy pickings for Miami quarterback Jacory Harris.
Pitt only returns five starters on offense, but there’s a lot of quality back in the lineup including Dion Lewis who was the top freshman running back in college football last year. WR Jon Baldwin and Mike Shanahan give the Panthers a couple of experienced downfield threats while last year’s backup QB, Pat Bostik, moves into the starting role. On the whole, Pittsburgh features a very competent defense to go with a productive and multi-dimensional offense.
We generally like the direction that Randy Shannon has gone with this Miami team, but we just think they're getting far too much credit in this spot. The Hurricanes are only 2-5 ATS as a favorite in this price range (-3' to -10 points) during the last three years, and its just too good of a value opportunity taking more than a field goal with a very talented home side. We'll call for the outright Panthers victory here, and we've got a nice margin if they fall short.
PLAY PITTSBURGH +4 OVER MIAMI-FL