Looking at NC State’s conference schedule based on SP+ projections
· Yahoo Sports
The preseason ACC SP+ projections do not see a whole lot of difference between the middle and the back end of the league, which is probably not going to be borne out by the season, but is interesting nonetheless. While there are only three teams in the top 25, there are none outside of the top 80. If the league does prove that congested in the middle, then it’s going to be a wild season.
NC State is one of five ACC teams rated in the 40s, for example, and while State has a better quarterback than the other four, well, even so, who knows how this mess might turn out.
Visit betsport24.es for more information.
Inserting whatever caveats you like here, this is a rough look at the line for each of State’s ACC games, based on the preseason SP+ ratings:
at UVA: UVA -5
vs. Louisville: Louisville -3
vs. Wake: NCSU -4.5
at Stanford: NCSU -4
vs. Cal: NCSU -4.5
vs. Duke: NCSU -2
vs. Syracuse: NCSU -5
at FSU: FSU -6.5
at UNC: UNC -1.5
Obviously, Bill Connelly’s computatin’ machine can only work with what it has on hand, and for instance, it has no idea that Mike Norvell is working under extreme duress and may have a lost season on his hands by November. UNC is the worst team not named Stanford on this schedule, and on that note, Stanford is going to be a lot worse than 77th.
Getting UVA and Louisville early is advantageous since both have new quarterbacks and a ton of transfers they’re going to have to rely on. Both Wake and Duke could go bust this year, or, alternatively, Wake could make something out of Gio Lopez that Dr. Cataracts could not, and the Blue Devils could rally around losing their QB and top receiver at the 11th hour. Let’s split the difference there.
Syracuse will be a lot better this season if Steve Angeli can actually stay healthy, while Cal is sort of NC State West, with so much money invested at quarterback that there are numerous questions left elsewhere as a consequence.
SP+ likes NC State to go 5-4 against this schedule; what do you think?