Boston College vs. Pittsburgh Prediction and Odds for ACC First Round (Eagles To Cover Against Turnstile Panthers)

The ACC Tournament gets underway with a matchup between two conference bottom-feeders as the 11-19 #13 seed Boston College Eagles take on the 11-20 #12 Pittsburgh Panthers at 2:00 PM EST today.

Both squads are on a losing streak, with the Eagles dropping three straight and the Panthers four. They split the regular season series with Pittsburgh notching a 2-point win in early January and Boston College winning by 13 a few weeks later. The Eagles covered both times.

Can Boston College cover the spread in a third straight over the Panthers or will Pittsburgh hold tough and extend their season one more day?

Here are the odds via WynnBET so we can find some value in a forgotten matchup:

Boston College vs Pittsburgh Odds, Spread and Total

Spread

• Boston College -2.5 (-110)
• Pittsburgh +2.5 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Boston College -140
• Pittsburgh +115

Total:

• 128.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Boston College vs Pittsburgh Prediction and Pick

It's admittedly tough to find an edge when you've got two teams playing poorly. Neither team has covered the spread in two weeks and their underlying metrics are poor. Neither is particularly good offensively or defensively, but there's a few key elements that lead me to side with the Eagles to pick up a third straight cover against their fellow conference welcome mat.

The Panthers have the 303rd-ranked effective field goal percentage in the country on the season, so they're terrible offensively. But over their last five games, they're also in the 0 percentile in defensive rating. I'll be honest, until I saw they were at the 0 percentile, I thought the scale only went as low as 1. I didn't even realize you could be as bad as Pittsburgh has been.

Boston College, meanwhile, has actually been okay on offense lately. They're in the 60th percentile in offensive rating over their last five thanks to a some strong shooting that finds them in the 73rd percentile in effective field goal percentage over that time span.

Pittsburgh turns the ball over a ton. They're 322nd in offensive turnover rate and 292nd in defensive, so the Eagles should be able to control the pace and flow of the game. The Panthers have really only played well at home this year as they're 2-6 against the spread in their last eight road games.

This obviously isn't a true road game, being a conference tournament and all, but without the comfort of their home arena, the Panthers haven't been a threat. I think those struggles continue and Boston College takes advantage of Pitt's turnstile defense to rack up another win.

Pick: Boston College -2.5 (-110)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.