East Carolina Pirates vs NC State Wolfpack Prediction, Odds and Picks for Tomorrow, 12/28/24

One of the more underrated games of this bowl season slate comes in the form of an in-state showdown in the Military Bowl between East Carolina and NC State in Annapolis, Maryland on Saturday. East Carolina was a team that I bet on consistently down the stretch of the regular season, to mostly positive results. The same can’t be said for NC State, a very mediocre team that I ended up being extremely wrong about in my preseason predictions over the summer. The Wolfpack do have a few pieces to build on, including starting quarterback CJ Bailey, but they will also be without a number of key players in this game, along with longtime defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. Gibson has long been one of the better defensive coordinators in the nation, and his absence alone would steer me in the direction of an East Carolina ticket. On top of that, my belief in the Pirates is strong considering how they finished out the season, and now that interim head coach Blake Harrell — who took over midseason — has recently been named full-time head coach, I expect the team to be fired up and play hard for their new head coach against an in-state rival from a power conference.

On the other side, NC State’s offense doesn’t do much well, with the Wolfpack sitting at 82nd in success rate, 85th in EPA per play and 110th in 3rd and 4th down success rate (College Football Insiders). The East Carolina defense is going to be without a starting cornerback and linebacker, but it’s worth mentioning that the Wolfpack are going to be without star wideout KC Concepcion, so that evens things out a bit on the outside. East Carolina is 10th in rushing success rate allowed and 43rd in Early Downs EPA, which suggests that NC State could find itself in obvious passing situations more often than you’d think. Both teams have shown an ability to create (and surrender) the explosive play, so there should be plenty of variance in this game. With that in mind, I’ll gladly take the underdog on Saturday.

East Carolina vs NC State prediction: East Carolina +7.5 available at time of publishing. Playable t0 +7.

Bet like a Caesar with this awesome new customer offer from Caesars, where you can get a welcome boost worth up to $1,000 on Caesars. 👥 using the Caesars promo code PICKSWISE1000, where you can bet on our East Carolina vs NC State picks.