Opening Day ACC Betting Preview: Best Odds Across The Board

• The Clemson Tigers are favored to beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons by 34.5 points on Saturday.
• The Florida State Seminoles are -500 moneyline favorites over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who are +350 underdogs.
• The O/U total for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Duke Blue Devils matchup is set at 53.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — This college football season will be unlike anything we’ve seen before due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has gotten comfortable in the United States.

Going into this week only six conferences have released their plans for teams to play football. Out of those six conferences, the ACC will be one of the conferences operating differently as it’ll take in the tenth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish as a conference member this season and they’ll be eligible to participate in the conference’s championship game in December if they qualify.

Despite the pandemic, the ACC plans to continue the season as planned while letting the schools decide if they want to participate and if they’ll allow fans to be in attendance. Every team in the conference is scheduled to play an 11-game schedule with 10 of those games pitting ACC teams against each other.

One ACC team has already played their first game as the Miami Hurricanes beat the UAB Blazers 31-14 Thursday night. Outside of that, there are six ACC teams slated to play Saturday featuring four matchups between conference rivals.

For bettors these early conference games will give an indication of how to keep betting on college football for the rest of the year.

Saturday ACC Games

No. 1 Clemson Tigers (-34.5) vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ 7:30 p.m. EST

The Clemson Tigers are expected to dominate the ACC for the sixth straight year and they start their season off with a warm up game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Tigers are heavily favored to win this matchup as they should be with Heisman Trophy frontrunner Trevor Lawrence leading the way. Wake Forest had one of the more underrated passing attacks a season ago but with quarterback Jamie Newman transferring to the Georgia Bulldogs in the spring, this team likely won’t even be competitive in the ACC. Take Clemson to win on the moneyline for sure but rolling the dice on them to cover the spread isn’t as sure of a bet as it seems. The O/U for this game is set at 60.5 expect that to go Over as the Tigers will do most of the heavy lifting in the scoring department. Clemson has won 11 straight games against the Demon Deacons and all signs point to them extending that streak to 12 on Saturday.

Winner: Clemson ATS, Over.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. Louisville Cardinals (-12) @ 8 p.m. EST

Two Kentucky teams take the field as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers take on the Louisville Cardinals in what should be a sneaky matchup where WKU could come out on top. The Cardinals are favored to win this game by 12-points for those looking to bet ATS for this game. The moneyline will likely be where a majority of the bets will be placed as the Hilltoppers have +330 underdogs odds while the Louisville Cardinals have -460 odds. The point total is listed at 57 for this game and bettors should take the Under as both offenses could get off to a slow start but the Cardinals offense will do most of the scoring.

Winner: Louisville Cardinals ATS, Under.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. Florida State Seminoles (-13) @ 3:30 p.m. EST

The Florida State Seminoles kick off the Mike Norvell era with a matchup against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Seminoles are favored to win as the Yellow Jackets still have yet to adjust to the new spread offense that head coach Geoff Collins is trying to implement. This explains why the Noles are favored by almost two touchdowns at online sportsbooks to beat the Yellow Jackets. That shouldn’t keep bettors from leaning towards Tech ATS as the Yellow Jackets have a 7-0 record ATS in their last seven meetings against FSU. This likely won’t be a high scoring affair as both teams will have to knock off some rust and adjust to new offensive systems. The Under is the best bet for this game since the total is set at 51.5.

Winner: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ATS, Under.

Duke Blue Devils vs. No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-20.5) @ 2:30 p.m. EST

The tenth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish make their ACC debut as they take on the Duke Blue Devils. Notre Dame is a comfortable favorite on both the moneyline and ATS in this matchup. Duke just doesn’t have the talent to risk putting money on them to pull of an upset. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish will look to Ian Book to put them in a position to make a college football playoff berth at the end of the season. A strong showing from the senior signal against Duke would also help his Heisman stock at the star of the season. The Fighting Irish will win this game easily and they’ll continue to bully the smaller teams in the ACC throughout the season. The O/U total for this game is set at 53, take the Over as Notre Dame will put up points and the Blue Devils will score more than most think.

Winner: Notre Dame Fighting Irish SU, Over.

Syracuse Orange vs. No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels (-23) @ 12 p.m. EST

The North Carolina Tar Heels are one of the teams in the ACC that are expected to continue their ascension as a program behind Sophomore quarterback Sam Howell. Head Coach Mack Brown has already shown the positives he brings to the program early and the Tar Heels should have no problem beating the Syracuse Orange in their first game on Saturday. The Tar Heels are favored to top the Orange by 23 points in this ACC matchup. The moneyline even displays a clear difference in talent between the two teams since North Carolina has -1600 odds and Syracuse is a longshot underdog with +800 odds. The Tar Heels will look to prove that they aren’t a team to take lightly and will be a force in the ACC this season. USAOnlineSportsbooks expect this to be a high scoring game as the O/U total is 65.5. Take Over as North Carolina’s defense will give up some garbage time points in what will be a runaway win for the Tar Heels

Winner: North Carolina Tar Heels SU, Over.