Belk Bowl – Louisville vs NC State
The Louisville Cardinals, out of the Big East will tangle with the ACC’s North Carolina State Wolfpack in this season’s Belk Bowl in Charlotte, NC.
Belk Bowl- Louisville Cardinals (7-5) vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-5)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 27 8 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Broadcast: ESPN
Cardinals vs Wolfpack lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Wolfpack -2
Over/Under: 44.5
The kick-off for this clash is slated for 8 p.m. and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
Louisville remained in the hunt for this year’s Big East title until the final game of the regular season with a conference record of 5-2 straight-up, but lost out on a BCS ranking tie-breaker to West Virginia. The Cardinals finished with five wins in their last six games to wind-up 7-5 SU and 8-4 against the spread. The total stayed ‘under’ in eight of their 12 games this year.
The Cardinals’ offense only managed to score an average of 21.8 points per game, but their defense was able to keep them in just about every contest by holding its opponents to an average of just 19.2 points a game, which was ranked 14th in the country.
NC State started the year in a bit of a hole at 2-3 SU, but rallied for three victories in its last four games to finish 7-5 SU (5-6-1 ATS) as well. It went 4-4 SU in ACC play and finished fourth in the Atlantic Division. The total stayed ‘under’ in seven of its 12 games. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Wolfpack’s offense managed to average 28 points a game through a balanced attack of running and passing the ball. It finished the season on a high note by first racking-up 37 points in a stunning upset over Clemson as 7.5-point home underdogs and then tagging Maryland for 56 points in a season-ending win as 11.5-point home favorites.
Louisville is 12-1 ATS in its last 13 games against the ACC and 7-1 ATS in its last eight games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of its last four non-conference games.
NC State is 3-1-1 ATS in its last five games against the Big East and 4-0-1 ATS in its last five bowl games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of its last six games overall.
These two teams are evenly matched and it should be a highly competitive game deep into the fourth quarter, but stick with the Wolfpack to pull-out a win that covers the two-point spread.
The Pick: NC State 27 vs. Louisville 23
