Sports Betting – Navy vs East Carolina

College football sports betting fans are in agreement.  The Navy Midshipmen will not cover the spread as +3 dogs versus East Carolina on Saturday.

60% of football handicappers so far believe that the East Carolina Pirates will beat Navy by more than 3 points when the two teams battle on Nov. 6th.  Both teams are 5 and 3 but Navy is coming off of a stunning 31 to 34 loss to the Duke Blue Devils as -12 ½ point sports betting favorites.

That has to be the reason that most football handicappers are siding with East Carolina in this game.

Navy Midshipmen vs. East Carolina Pirates

Where:  Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, North Carolina
When:  Nov. 6th, 2010 at 3:30 pm EST
TV:  TBD

NCAAF Betting Lines

Navy Midshipmen                    +3 -110           O 63 ½ -110

East Carolina Pirates                 -3 -110                        U 63 ½ -110               

The sports betting trends favor both teams in this game.

• The Navy Midshipmen are 5 and 0 ATS versus a team with a winning record.
• The Navy Midshipmen are 5 and 0 ATS in their last 5 games as the underdog.
• The East Carolina Pirates are 6 and 0 ATS in their last 6 home games.
• The East Carolina Pirates are 4 and 1 ATS versus a team with a winning record.

The loss to Duke was very surprising considering that Navy went into that game off of victories over SMU and Notre Dame.  If they had beaten Duke, then there’s no doubt that they’d probably be the favorite going into their game against East Carolina on Saturday.

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It’s not like East Carolina is a great team.  In fact, I’m sort of disturbed as to why 60% of my peers believe that the Pirates will cover the sports betting spread in this contest.  Navy isn’t nearly as good as some believed they would be going into this season but they still have quality victories over Wake Forest, Notre Dame, SMU and Louisiana Tech.  The Midshipmen also have what I consider a 6 to 14 morale loss to the more talented Air Force Academy.  Navy also averages close to 260 yards per game on the ground.     

East Carolina has been a hit or miss team in 2010.  Upsetting North Carolina State 33 to 27 as 7 ½ point underdogs was nice, but then they go and lose to Central Florida 35 to 49 as 8-point dogs.  Upsetting Southern Miss 44 to 43 as 8-point dogs was cool but before that North Carolina blew them out 42 to 17.

If the good East Carolina team shows up, then they could very well beat Navy by more than 3 points, but if the bad East Carolina team shows up, then the Midshipmen could win this game outright.  I have to go with my gut and predict that the bad East Carolina team will show up.

The Pirates don’t really play defense.  They allow 37 points per game and give up 440 yards, on average, per game.  East Carolina pretty much tries to win by outscoring their opponents, but I don’t believe that will happen versus Navy because the Midshipmen’s powerful running game should allow them to control the clock.

East Carolina allows 184 yards per game on the ground.  If they can’t stop Navy’s rushing attack, then I just don’t see how they win this game much less cover the 3-point college football sports betting spread.

I’m backing Navy in their game vs. East Carolina.

NCAAF Betting Pick:  Navy Midshipmen +3 -110

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Sources:  espn.com, covers.com