Free Week 1 Prediction: Aggies vs Pirates Odds
Looking for North Carolina A&T Aggies vs. East Carolina Pirates free picks? Week 1 betting sees the Aggies taking on the Pirates on Saturday September 1, 2018 at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football predictions like this North Carolina A&T East Carolina free pick.
College Football Handicapping: Week 1
(0-0) North Carolina A&T Aggies vs. Eastern Carolina Pirates (0-0)
Date: Saturday, September 3rd 2018
Time: 6:00 pm EST
Venue: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, North Carolina
NCAA Football Spread: OFF
NCAA Betting Total: OFF (As of 7pm ET Monday August 13th)
Live CFB Odds
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North Carolina A&T is coming off a perfect 12-0 season. The line isn’t yet set for this matchup with Eastern Carolina (check back soon!), but you can imagine when it’s set, the line is going to be closer than some might expect in a Week 1 FBS vs. FCS battle.
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North Carolina A&T Aggies
Playing up to FBS competition is difficult for any team in the country to do. We’re not saying it’s going to be easy.
But the Aggies have something going for them that this Eastern Carolina team simply does not.
Defense.
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The Aggies performed at a top-five level last season when it came to the point-preventing side of the field. It was against FCS competition, sure. Like we said, we’re not saying this is going to be easy.
But North Carolina A&T is prepared to come in and play a rugged brand of football, which is something the Pirates may not be ready for by the time we kick off at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Eastern Carolina Pirates
If you aren’t buying the defensive hubris here on the side of Aggies, we don’t blame you. We disagree—let’s get that out of the way early. But we don’t blame you for thinking that a top-five FCS defense won’t perform as admirably against an FBS program.
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What you can’t deny, however (although I guess you can deny it based solely on the fact that it was against FBS offenses), is that Eastern Carolina is a polar opposite on defense.
In 2017, the Pirates were dead last in both yards allowed and points allowed.
Yes, Eastern Carolina was playing FBS competition, but it wasn’t playing offensive juggernauts week in and week out. For example: The Pirates gave up 64 points to Virginia Tech early in the 2017 season and 52 points late in the year to Houston. Those two programs were 69th and 65th in the country in scoring, respectively.
That’s a problem for any program—even one playing an FCS team in Week 1 of the season.
Free Week 1 NCAA Football Pick
This game won’t be covered by many national outlets, but the closer we get to kickoff, the more we’re buying the upset potential that North Carolina A&T brings.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Check back closer to gameday for a free pick ATS, a final score pick is provided below.
In reality, this shouldn’t be considered an upset considering the quality of the two programs on the field. But that’s what it will go down as when the Aggies take down the Pirates on the road, giving Eastern Carolina its second straight Week 1 loss to an FCS team.
Week 1 Free Score Prediction: North Carolina A&T Aggies 35 – Eastern Carolina Pirates 27
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