Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Bets we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s continue our preview with the ACC. Always competitive each season, the ACC is always among the nation’s top conferences with annual Final Four contenders Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. Last season, Miami made their first ever Final Four, guided by the March magic of head coach Jim Larranaga. There are 15 teams in the ACC, making it the largest of all the power conferences. The critics continue to cite the weakness of the bottom ACC teams, which directly contributes to its sixth overall preseason ranking by KenPom. However, it still holds true that the top teams in the ACC will always have a chance at a Final Four run.
Here’s our betting preview for the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Pittsburgh Panthers Betting Preview
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Jeff Capel (6th Season)
2022-2023 Record: 24-12 (14-6)
ATS: 24-11-1
O/U: 22-14
Projected Starters: G Carlton Carrington; G Ishmael Leggett; F Zack Austin; F Blake Hinson; C Federiko Federiko
Preview: Head coach Jeff Capel changed the course of the Pittsburgh Panthers’ future in just one season. Capel was very much on the hot seat after three straight years of just six ACC wins, including consecutive 10 and 11 wins seasons overall. Pittsburgh finished tied for third in the ACC after being projected second-to-last (14th) in last year’s preseason poll. This year, the Panthers are projected ninth, as they return only 37% of last year’s minutes. Capel tried to mirror last year’s transfer portal success with Ishmael Leggett (Rhode Island) and Zack Austin (High Point). Last year’s team was built on the backs of experienced upperclassmen like Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott and Nike Sibande. All have departed. Last year was fantastic for Pittsburgh, but was it an outlier or the start of something bigger?
Key Player: Blake Hinson
Hinson did everything for Pittsburgh last season, leading their scoring attack at 15.3 PPG, while shooting 38% from deep on a robust 255 attempts. Hinson was a second-team All-ACC selection last season and is still (surprisingly) projected there again in the preseason. He needs to reach that first-team status for Pittsburgh to even approach last year’s success.
Projection: I’m worried about a backslide for Pittsburgh after a magical and unexpected season. Capel failed to have any real success his first four seasons, and we could easily see negative regression in a challenging ACC conference. Dior Johnson was expected to fortify the Pittsburgh backcourt, but he was dismissed from the team in August. That puts a huge spotlight on freshman Carlton Carrington, who is likely to slide into the starting lineup.
How I’m Betting Pittsburgh: The Panthers won some incredible games last season, excelling in neutral-court and road matchups. Pittsburgh won at Northwestern, NC State, Syracuse, North Carolina and Florida State and two wins in the NCAA Tournament. They were spectacular ATS with the sixth-best record ATS in all of college basketball, including 9-4-1 ATS. This year’s non-conference schedule is easier with four straight games against North Carolina A&T, Binghamton, Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville, but will those lines be inflated based on last season’s success? I will start the year fading the Panthers and will look to do so within ACC play as well. I’m betting that last year’s success was simply an outlier for Capel’s Panthers.
