Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest ACC Championship Picks and Predictions: Carolina Shootout

For the first time in seven years, Clemson will not reign over the ACC, and for the first time since 2010, someone other than Clemson or Florida State will hold the conference crown. Pittsburgh and Wake Forest should still provide an entertaining game if bettors and fans can look past their lack of usual elite status.

Here are our free college football picks and predictions for Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest on December 4, with kickoff set for 8:00 ET.

Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

This line remained stable all week with Pittsburgh favored by a field goal. Occasionally a -2.5 has been available, but that was always with significant juice. The total was nearly as static, beginning the week at 72.5 points and falling merely to 71.5.

Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.

Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest predictions

• Prediction: Wake Forest +3 (-110)
• Prediction: Over 71.5 (-110)
• Best bet: Wake Forest ML (+125)

Predictions made on 12/02/2021 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest game info

• Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
• Date: Saturday, December 4, 2021
• Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ABC

Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest betting preview

Weather

Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.

Key injuries

Pittsburgh: Jaylon Barden WR (Questionable), Taysir Mack WR (Questionable), A.J. Davis RB (Out).
Wake Forest: Chelen Garnes S (Out), Nasir Green S (Questionable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Five of Wake Forest’s last seven games would have gone over this total, as would have three of Pittsburgh’s last five games. The Over is also 4-1 in the Demon Deacons’ last five games as an underdog, a stretch that goes back to last November. Find more NCAA betting trends for Pittsburgh vs. Wake Forest.

Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest picks and predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Spread analysis

The more analytically-based power rankings largely favor Pittsburgh by more than this field goal. That alone should serve as an indicator that maybe Wake Forest is not properly valued this week. If the books suggest this should be a closer game than the numbers otherwise predict, and the books “always know,” as we all know, then perhaps they did not adjust far enough.

Furthermore, this will end up an offensive shootout despite Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi’s historical tendencies. The Deacons have thrived in a few high-scoring affairs this year, winning four games in which their opponent scored at least 34 points. They lost one shootout, but that was by only three points at North Carolina.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has dealt with that crucible only once. There is an underrated pressure to knowing that one blown possession can cost the game and as outstanding as Panthers veteran quarterback Kenny Pickett has been this season, he also made crippling mistakes in their 38-34 loss to Miami. A late-game flub is doubly harmful when your defense struggles to stop the opponent, and nobody has successfully stopped the Deacons this season.

Prediction: Wake Forest +3 (-110)

Over/Under analysis

Get your popcorn, pour your drink, or do whatever you normally do when preparing for a show, because these two offenses will give you one.

Pick a statistic. Quick, in your head, think of an offensive stat.

Points per game? Pittsburgh scores 42.8 per game, and Wake Forest is at 42.9. Yards per play? 6.53 and 6.29, respectively. Red-zone percentage? Pittsburgh scores a touchdown on 69.8% of its trips inside the 20-yard line, good for No. 18 in the country. Wake Forest barely trails at 68.3%, No. 27 in the country.

Whatever statistic comes to mind, those trends will continue. These two simply produce and produce without fail. Meanwhile, neither defense has been remotely close to stout.

Not much more thought needs to be poured in. Bet on the entertaining show.

Prediction: Over 71.5 (-110)

Best bet

It may seem counterintuitive to look at Pickett, one of the few remaining players with any semblance of Heisman hope, and bet against him, but his late-game mistakes against Miami stick that glaringly in the memory.

This game will go back and forth for hours. If either offense gets stopped multiple times in a row it will qualify as a massive momentum swing rather than simply a lull in the game, and a mishap in the final frame is more likely to lose the game than most weeks.

In that instance, let’s put money on an upset when the underdog has a turnover differential of +11, compared to the favorite’s +3.

Pick: Wake Forest ML (+125)

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