Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Face-off in College Football

To say that Pittsburgh will come in this NCAA College Football game in high spirits could very well be an understatement.

Pittsburgh is coming off the biggest win of the Dave Wannstedt era, a surprisingly easy 38-13 thumping of Virginia that was light years better than the way team performed at any time in 2005.

The Panthers were dominant at the point of attack and noticeably faster than a year ago, but if they can’t win on the road, the goodwill from the strong start will be gone by Saturday morning.

Cincinnati is also feeling pretty good about itself after pitching a shutout for the first time in 11 years against an above average, veteran Eastern Kentucky offense. The Bearcats, which were mere kittens last fall, are all grown up on defense, and it showed on Thursday night.

However, I'm still picking Pittsburgh. Here's why.

The Panther defense held Virginia to just 211 yards on Saturday and was air tight in pass defense. That’s bad news for Cincinnati, which will play both Dustin Grutza and Nick Davila behind center because neither has been good enough to pull away from the other. Tyler Palko threw three touchdown passes last weekend and gives Pitt a huge advantage over UC’s quarterbacks.

Can Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati in NCAA College Football? Sports Interaction has the outright odds.

Pittsburgh -8.0

Cincinnati +8.0