NC State is an 18-point favorite over USF

I’d appreciate a stress-free Thursday night but I figure it’s best not to assume anything out of the gate, even against a team that was as bad as South Florida last season. But the oddsmakers do see this matchup as lopsided, with NC State currently sitting as an 18-point favorite at most sportsbooks.

That line started at 16.5 in places before money started coming in on the Wolfpack to cover. USF’s starting quarterback announcement last week didn’t seem to have any effect, either.

NC State is definitely expected to put up a good point total given both the line and the over/under, which is 59. Something like 45-20 would be a fine-looking score, if you ask me.

We’ll see, though. The first game of the season is bound to have some hiccups, just hopefully not the sort that makes the fourth quarter more interesting than it needs to be. If the game goes well, it’ll be USF that makes the most mistakes. (You can insert “scared shitless until proven otherwise” here if you like.)