The East Carolina Pirates (1-5 overall, 1-4 AAC) visit the Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0, 4-0) Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET in an American Athletic Conference battle at Nippert Stadium. Below, we analyze the East Carolina-Cincinnati college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Cincinnati is ranked seventh in the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA TODAY Sports.
East Carolina at Cincinnati: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:20 p.m. ET.
- Money line: East Carolina +1200 (bet $100 to win $1,200) | Cincinnati -3334 (bet $3,334 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: East Carolina +27.5 (-110) | Cincinnati -27.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 55.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
East Carolina at Cincinnati: Three things to know
- The Pirates have struggled in AAC play. Dating back to 2018, ECU is just 2-12 over its last 14 conference games, while head coach Luke Fickell’s Bearcats have gone 17-4 in league tilts. Head-to-head over that span, UC is 2-0 against the Pirates — with a 56-6 home victory in 2018 and a 46-43 road win in 2019.
- An ECU defense ranked 102nd in defense (37.2 points per game allowed) stands out, but, figuring for opponent strengths and weaknesses, the offense has also been a major issue for second-year head coach Mike Houston. In games against UCF, Georgia State, Navy and Tulane, the Pirates failed to score 30 points (or get 400 total yards in three of those games). Those four opponents have an average rank of 88th in scoring defense.
- The UC defense (11.7 PPG) gets a lot of attention, but junior QB Desmond Ridder has been a dangerous crossover weapon in the Bearcat passing and running games. Over the last three weeks, Ridder has averaged 294 combo yards per game while throwing for five touchdowns and running for eight.
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East Carolina at Cincinnati: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Cincinnati 38, East Carolina 10
Money line (ML)
The -3334 tag on Cincinnati makes for a 97.09% implied probability on a straight-up win. AVOID this simply on the grounds of a) better value being out there on a full college slate, and b) these are still 20-year-old kids playing a game with an odd-shaped ball in a contest where turnovers can be major determinants of wins and losses.
Against the spread (ATS)
Back CINCINNATI -27.5 (-110) but only on a small lean. A number under 26 would be more palatable, but UC’s last three games — a combined 129-33 throttling of SMU, Memphis and Houston — have pushed the number into four-touchdown territory. The Bearcats did collect several garbage-time TDs in those wins, but they dominated in yardage.
Cincinnati will have major leverage in the trenches. On offense, look for the Bearcats to stay ahead of schedule; on defense, UC will cause havoc against an ECU offense all too prone to getting loose with the ball.
Over/Under (O/U)
BACK THE UNDER 55.5 (-110). Yes, Cincinnati has some reasoning behind going for style points. But a 38-10-type game is a thorough stranglehold in the style of its head coach.
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