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Week 9 ACC Football Picks

By Joe Micik

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Slim pickins in the Week 9 ACC football picks as there are only five games within the conference.

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Games are chosen both straight-up and against the spread. If it matters, and it probably does not, we went 5-2 in the straight-up picks last week, but 3-4 against the spread.

Fewer games this week, so fewer potential contests to get wrong.

Week 9 ACC Football Picks:
Miami (-2.5) at Virginia Tech

Thursday, 8pm ET (ESPN)

Virginia Tech is a home underdog to a team with the same record as them in a Thursday primetime game. Seems kind of unusual.

Perhaps it is because I am not much of a believer in Miami, but I could see the Virginia Tech defense riding the crowd energy and stopping the ‘Canes. Not that I’m much of a believer in the Hokies, either, who are 2-3 since pulling the big upset at Ohio State. Virginia Tech | VT +2.5

Week 9 ACC Football Picks:
North Carolina at Virginia (-7)

Saturday, 12pm ET (ESPN3)

Nice win North Carolina pulled off last week, but Virginia has been impressive for a 4-3 team. They beat a ranked Louisville and played UCLA, BYU, and Duke close, the latter two on the road. The Hoos have no bad losses through seven games, and a nice win or two.

UNC won against Georgia Tech because they made that game into a slugfest, which is the only type of game they can win with that defense. Virginia, with a decent defense of their own, is probably not going to cooperate. This one could push at -7 but until UNC learns to stop giving up 40+ points a game, I can’t take the points on the road. Virginia | UVA -7

Week 9 ACC Football Picks:
Boston College (-12.5) at Wake Forest

Saturday, 3:30pm ET (ESPN3)

Hasta mañana.

Week 9 ACC Football Picks:
Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh (-3.5)

Saturday, 3:30pm ET (ESPNU)

The visiting team is starting to fall upon hard times, while the home team just stopped their own losing streak. In games like this that are tough to call, I try to make some sort of evaluation of what team plays better defense, and here, it’s Pitt. Importantly, as Boston College already saw, the Panthers’ run defense is very capable, and that’s a problem for Georgia Tech.

Pitt is a confusing team who could find a way to lose, but if all things are as they should be, they should get the job done. Pittsburgh | Pitt -3.5

Week 9 ACC Football Picks:
Syracuse at Clemson (-14)

Saturday, 7pm ET (ESPNU)

Clemson is a fine football team that found a way to win in spite of numerous Boston College opportunities. Their defense has to be the best in the ACC, and Cole Stoudt is proving that he can keep things moving on offense in the absence of Deshaun Watson.

With their issues on offense, it is not hard to picture Syracuse getting held to a low number on Saturday. They don’t have a good win yet this season and Clemson at home is unlikely to give them one. Clemson | Clemson -14

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