Wake Forest Opens as 6.5 Point Underdogs to No. 22 Syracuse

Wake Forest (4-4, 1-3) opened as a 6.5 point underdog to No. 22 Syracuse (6-2, 3-2) when the line came out yesterday. The line is already down to four points, indicating that the initial money is on the Deacs to keep it close on Saturday.

Both teams are coming off of wins where it scored a lot of points in ACC Atlantic Division tilts. The Deacs romped the hapless Louisville Cardinals 56-35, while Cuse got a victory over ranked N.C State by a count of 51-41.

With the win, Syracuse became bowl eligible for the first time in five years, and now it’s time for Wake Forest to inch closer to another bowl game itself.

It is Homecoming for the Deacs, which will bring a good bit of fanfare that will be much needed for the noon kickoff. Last year Wake Forest ran all over Syracuse en route to a 64-43 win that secured bowl eligibility. An upset win this year over Cuse would put the Deacs at 5-4 and drastically improve its odds at a third straight bowl game.

Running back Matt Colburn, hero of this past weekend in Louisville, went off in the Carrier Dome last year in what was a then career high for yardage at 237. I would expect another big week from the senior out of South Carolina.

While my betting cred took a serious hit with my recommendation of the under last weekend for our game, I say with great confidence that this weekend will feature a ton of points on both sides. Not only do both teams average a lot of points per game (Wake at 33, and Syracuse at 45), but they are two of the fastest teams in the country as far as snaps per game.

My guess in this one is that it’s the first to 50 to get the W in Winston-Salem, and it should be a pretty fun game to watch even for a neutral observer.

Wake has hit the over in all but one game this year (Florida State), and moved to just 2-6 against the spread with the win on Saturday agains U of L.