The UCF Knights (1-0) pay a visit to the East Carolina Pirates (0-0) in a Saturday noon ET contest at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, N.C. We analyze the UCF-East Carolina college football betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
UCF at East Carolina: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 8:45 p.m. ET.
- Money line: UCF -2000 | East Carolina +950
- Against the spread/ATS: UCF -27.5 (-110) | East Carolina +27 (-110)
- Over/Under: 76,5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
UCF at East Carolina: Three things to know
1. Central Florida is ranked No. 15 in the Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today Sports. UCF is coming off a 10-3 season a year ago; the Knights averaged a robust 43.4 points per game (5th FBS). Their three losses in 2019 were by a combined margin of seven points. UCF opened its 2020 campaign with a 49-21 win over Georgia Tech.
2. East Carolina had its first game of the season (vs. Marshall) postponed due COVID-19 concerns. ECU went 4-8 a year ago. Among those eight losses was a 41-28 loss to UCF, but the Pirates covered the +34.5 spread.
3. Knights QB Dillon Gabriel threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns vs. Georgia Tech. Gabriel completed 59.3 percent of his passes (236 of 398) in 2019; he logged 29 TD passes against seven interceptions. The then-freshman scuffled a bit away from home, completing 54 percent of his passes. All seven of his picks came in away games.
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UCF at East Carolina: Odds, betting lines and picks
Prediction
UCF 52, East Carolina 21
Money line (ML)
STEER CLEAR: A lot of juice brackets the real win probabilities in between.
Against the spread (ATS)
The Knights led last year’s game 35-6 at one point. The eventual mini-comeback for the Pirates included two short-field scores. Style points have always mattered in college football, but never have they loomed as large as they figure to in a shortened and uneven 2020 campaign. Look for ranked Central Florida to bolt to a lead, extend it and get it into four-score territory well before the final gun.
UCF sometimes gets overvalued in these American Athletic Conference games (2-6 against the spread last 8 games), and this tag is perhaps worth waiting on for a price drop, but the KNIGHTS (-27.5) are the play.
Over/Under (O/U)
The Over has hit in eight of the last 11 meetings between the Knights and Pirates. UCF has far-and-away the best offense in this game, but the uncertainty surrounding what figures as a lopsided score puts this total into NO-GO territory.
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