Miami vs. USF football preview, picks: Where experts see an edge

An early prediction from the oddsmakers for Miami vs. USF in this Week 3 game.

Miami Hurricanes vs. USF Bulls football game preview, picks, odds | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami and a resurgent USF square off in college football’s Week 3 action on Saturday. Let’s take a look at the early predictions for the game from the oddsmakers.

Miami is a perfect 2-0 on the back of wins against CFP runner-up Notre Dame in the opener and a blowout over Bethune-Cookman, as quarterback Carson Beck had scored 4 touchdowns in his Hurricanes debut while covering nearly 500 yards passing.

But the Hurricanes face a considerably tougher test this week than perhaps they anticipated, going against a USF team that has staked a claim for itself in this short season.

South Florida is college football’s only team to beat two AP top 25 ranked opponents this season, needing just two games to do it, smashing playoff quarterfinalist Boise State and then pulling off a stunning upset on the road against Florida.

For that success, USF was rewarded with the No. 18 position in the AP top 25 rankings this week, while its two opponents have been dropped from the poll entirely.

Byrum Brown leads the team with 473 yards passing and 109 rushing yards and the Bulls rank 30th in the country by allowing just 11.5 points per game on average.

Where is the money going in this matchup between the Hurricanes and Bulls?

Let’s take a look at the early prediction for Miami vs. USF in this Week 3 college football game, according to the oddsmakers.

Miami vs. USF picks, odds

As expected, the Hurricanes are favored at home against the Bulls, but by a surprising margin considering the visiting team’s success.

Miami is a 17.5 point favorite against USF this weekend, according to the latest game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel set the total at 56.5 points for the matchup.

And it lists the moneyline odds for Miami at -850 and for USF at +570 to win outright.

Miami: -17.5 (-112)
USF: +17.5 (-108)

Over 56.5 points: -108
Under 56.5 points: -112

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Miami vs. USF trends

USF is 5-1 against the spread in its last 6 games...

Miami is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games...

The total went under in 5 of Miami’s last 7 against USF...

USF is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games against Miami...

Miami is 1-4 against the spread in its last 5 games as the favorite...

USF is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 road games...

Miami is 7-16 against the spread in its last 23 home games...

USF is 8-17 straight-up in its last 25 road games...

Miami has won 6 of the last 7 games against USF...

The total went under in 5 of Miami’s last 7 games against USF...

And it went over in 4 of USF’s last 6 games...

USF was 2-1 (66.7%) ATS as the road underdog last season..

Miami was 3-2-1 (60%) ATS as the home favorite a year ago...

USF went 1-1 ATS against ranked teams last season...

Miami was 0-1 against the spread against ranked opponents last fall...

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Spread consensus picks

A strong majority of bettors have faith in the Bulls to keep things close against the Hurricanes in this third game against a ranked opponent.

USF is getting 70 percent of bets to either upset Miami outright or to at least keep the final margin under 18 points in a loss on the road.

The other 30 percent of wagers project Miami will hold the line at home and cover this big point spread by knocking off the Bulls by at least 18 points.

The game’s implied score suggests a comfortable victory for the Hurricanes.

When taking the point spread and total into consideration, it’s implied that Miami will defeat USF by a projected score of 37 to 20.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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