NC State an early 7-point favorite over South Carolina

Favored to beat an SEC team by a touchdown?! What is this sorcery? Indeed, the very early line from the Golden Nugget has NC State -7 vs. South Carolina in the season-opener for both teams. (h/t Brad Crawford)

I did not see the line being quite this substantial, but it could be that handicappers remembered that we have Jaylen Samuels, whereas South Carolina does not have Jaylen Samuels. That’s gotta be worth a few points right there.

This could be an early sign that Vegas expects the Wolfpack to be pretty darn good this year given that both State and South Carolina finished the 2016 regular season with identical 6-6 (3-5) records.

Not that all 6-6 records are created equally, mind you. The Gamecocks don’t look nearly as good on paper as NCSU, and they were held to 14 points or fewer seven times last season. (They did beat ECU tho.)