Champs Sports Bowl: North Carolina State vs West Virginia Free Picks & Predictions

North Carolina State Wolfpack vs West Virginia Mountaineers
Tuesday, 12/28/10, 6:30 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: West Virginia -1
Current Betting Line: West Virginia -3
Opening Total: 48.5
Current Total: 48.5

West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart will have one more year in Morgantown before being replaced in 2012, as his Mountaineers get set for the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl

North Carolina State has enjoyed a special 2010 season in becoming the first team in the program to capture eight wins since 2003 and be guaranteed to post the first winning season in five years. The trip to the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl marks the 10th time in the last 12 years that Wolfpack head coach Tom O’Brien had led his team to postseason play. “It’s a great opportunity for us to finish things off on the right foot, because I don’t think anybody on the team, especially the seniors, want to be remembered for the performance that we had against Maryland,” said All-ACC first team linebacker Nate Irving. “We have an opportunity to play a great team and show how good we really are.” The program needed to beat the Terrapins on November 27 to earn a spot in the ACC championship game, but lost 38-31 after building a 14-0 first-quarter lead. NC State was 8-3 ATS on the season and is currently a slight underdog on the college football lines page.

The Wolfpack will be meeting the Mountaineers for a third time in a bowl game, but the first time in 35 years. NC State knocked off West Virginia 49-12 in the 1972 Peach Bowl and lost 13-10 in the 1975 Peach Bowl. Overall, the team is 12-11-1 in its 24 previous bowl trips, with the last one being a 29-23 loss to Rutgers in the 2008 Papa Johns Bowl. Quarterback Russell Wilson is one of the more dynamic players in college football, but will be tested tonight in going against one of the best defenses in the country. In order for the Wolfpack to come away with a victory, he will need to have a superb game through the air, as the Mountaineers possess the second-best rushing defense in the nation.

West Virginia barely missed out on representing the Big East Conference in a BCS Bowl, but it wasn’t enough to secure head coach Bill Stewart’s job in Morgantown. He will be replaced by Oklahoma State’s Dana Holgorsen for the 2012 season, which was a surprising move by athletic director Oliver Luck. “I didn’t believe we had an opportunity to win a national championship with the direction of the program,” said Luck. “At the end of the day, results matter. And we weren’t getting the results.” The Mountaineers still recorded a 9-3 record and won their final four games to secure a bowl bid. The program is 96-96-3 against current members of the ACC and has gone 5-4 overall against tonight’s opponent. West Virginia 20-16 ATS when the line is +3 to -3.

The Mountaineers rank second nationally in scoring defense at 12.8 points allowed per game and third in total defense at 251.3 yards. West Virginia will face an NC State offense that was second in the ACC with 32.5 points per game and will need to stop Wilson, who threw for 3,288 passing yards and 26 touchdowns. The defensive unit is the only team in the nation that did not allow more than 21 points in a game this season.