Pittsburgh at Louisville Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Louisville Cardinals will look to keep their Big East title hopes alive when they host the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday. The Cardinals went on the road and upset West Virginia 38-35 for their third straight win. The win moved Louisville to 3-1 inside the conference, just a half-game back of Cincinnati (3-0). The Panthers hopes of winning the Big East took a big hit this past weekend, as they lost 23-26 at home to Cincinnati. The loss dropped Pittsburgh to 2-2 in the conference. Pittsburgh has won three straight in the series, including a 20-3 win at home in 2010.

Taking a look at the week 11 college football lines, oddsmakers currently have the Cardinals favored by 2.5-points over the Panthers with the total set at 44 points.

Pittsburgh:

It has been a disappointing season for the Panthers, as they are just 2-5 after opening the season with a couple of wins against the likes of Buffalo and Maine. Despite all the struggles, Pittsburgh had a chance to get back in the conference title picture with a win over Cincinnati at home. The Panthers held a 23-13 lead with just over 13 minutes to play in the third quarter, but would be outscored 17-0 the rest of the way.

With star running back Ray Graham lost for the season in the win over Connecticut, the Panthers relied heavily on the play of quarterback Tino Sunseri against Cincinnati. The junior threw for 218 yards and a touchdown on 24 of 38 passing and was also the leading rusher with 64 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts.

Sunseri and the offense struggled to move the ball for most of the fourth quarter, but put together a late drive to set up a field goal to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately the field goal was missed and the Panthers went home with yet another defeat.

It will be interesting to see how the Panthers respond after such an emotional loss that all but knocked them out of the conference picture. Getting an offense going that has averaged just under 17 points a game over their last four contests won’t be easy. Louisville comes in allowing just 322 total yards a game, ranking them 17th in the country.

Louisville:

The Cardinals have been one of the big surprises in the Big East this season. With just 10 starters returning, most experts had Louisville pegged near the bottom in the Big East. It looks liked those predictions were pretty accurate after the Cardinals opened up the season 2-4, but this team has responded to win each of their last three and are all alone in second place in the standings.

While the Cardinals struggled to win games early in the year, they were in every game they played. The biggest loss they have suffered all season was an 11-point defeat at first place Cincinnati. This team proved they were for real last week with an impressive win at West Virginia, who came in favored by 12.5 points.

The Cardinals offense exploded for a season-high 38 points last week, the first time this season they scored more than 24 in a game. Freshman quarterback Tyler Birdgwater threw for a career-high 246 yards, while Dominique Browns and Victor Anderson combined to rush for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Pittsburgh comes in allowing just 24 points and 364 yards of total offense a game in 2011, but have really struggled on the road. The Panthers are allowing 32.5 points and 373 yards of offense away from home.

Betting Trends:

Pittsburgh is 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games as a road underdog of 0.5-3.0.

Louisville is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games as a home favorite of 0.5-3.0.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in college football. The expert handicapper is 15-5 over his last 20 college selections.

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