West Virginia He hits the road this weekend to face his old Big East foe in Cincinnati. The Bearcats are currently 4.5-point favorites as both teams return to play after a much-needed bye week.

Here are my picks for this week’s WVU game. Rates courtesy FanDuel Sports Betting.

1 Star – Not so sure
2 Stars – A little overconfident
3 Stars – Pretty confident
4 Stars – Very confident
5 Stars – Must be a crash

2-star play at West Virginia (+4.5): Although Nicco Marchiol is likely the starter, I still prefer to take points with West Virginia in the event of a possible upset. The running game should be at full strength, with CJ Donaldson cleared and bye earlier in the week. WVU is still a bit behind defensively, but the leadership change in the bye week could have positive results. If this turns into a back-and-forth affair, the Mountaineers will be in some trouble.

4 star game over: Cincinnati has one of the best passing attacks in the league, averaging 282.4 yards per game, which certainly isn’t good news for the second-seeded Mountaineers. On paper, Cincinnati’s defense hasn’t played badly, but they’ve also seen some pretty poor or middle-of-the-road offense this season. This matchup could be like Cincinnati beating Texas Tech 44-41. I don’t think it will be that high of a score, but there won’t be any problems getting the ball into the end zone for either team.

ATS: 5-3 (62.5%)
O/D: 4-4 (50%)
Overall: 9-7 (56.2%)

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