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The Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the Louisville Cardinals. Check out our college football odds series for our Wake Forest Louisville prediction and pick.
Wake Forest is in the top 10 of the national polls, powered by quarterback Sam Hartman. If Hartman played for Alabama or Ohio State, he would be at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy discussion. Because he plays for Wake Forest, he won't get nearly as much national attention, but he certainly deserves it. Hartman is at or near the top of the leaderboard in various statistical categories. He has been typically brilliant for the Demon Deacons and the core reason this program is in the hunt for an Orange Bowl berth.
Wake Forest is in good position for an Orange Bowl ticket for a few obvious reasons. One is that the Demon Deacons don't have to play their nemesis, the Clemson Tigers, for the remainder of the season. That's the only loss on Wake's profile, and it was an overtime thriller in which Hartman played well but his defense got shredded. The second reason is that Wake Forest opponent North Carolina State won't have Devin Leary for that game in Raleigh. It figured to be a very tough game for Wake with Leary playing, but now the Demon Deacons should be solid favorites in that game. If Wake takes care of business against a bunch of teams it is supposed to beat — North Carolina State, Syracuse, and North Carolina — it should be able to finish with one loss. Assuming Clemson makes the College Football Playoff from the ACC and Wake finishes with only one loss, the Deacs would be in line to get the ACC's bid to the Orange Bowl under the New Year's Six bowl system. Beating Louisville is a necessary step on the road to Miami after Christmas.
The Louisville Cardinals need to do something big to keep Scott Satterfield employed. Satterfield is firmly on the hot seat, due to Louisville losing multiple times in the early part of the season and then suffering a really bad loss to Boston College later in the season. The Cardinals have simply not made any progress as a program under Satterfield, whose first season was good and who regressed in the next few seasons. The fact that Satterfield openly flirted with South Carolina when the Gamecocks' head coaching position came open a few years ago was a big red flag to Louisville fans. Satterfield needed to produce at a high level to fend off criticism and stabilize the program. He has plainly not done that, but an upset of Wake Forest could change people's minds, at least to the extent that Satterfield could preserve his job for at least one more season. If he doesn't win here, however, he will probably need to beat Kentucky at the very end of the season if he wants to have a reasonable chance of staying on at UL.
Here are the Wake Forest-Louisville NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Wake Forest-Louisville Odds
Wake Forest Demon Deacons: -3.5 (-110)
Louisville Cardinals: +3.5 (-110)
Over: 64.5 (-105)
Under: 64.5 (-115)
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Why Wake Forest Could Cover the Spread
The Demon Deacons have Sam Hartman at quarterback, and an offense which should be able to eviscerate the Louisville defense. Louisville gave up a lot of points to Boston College. If BC could smoke the Cardinals, Wake and Hartman should be able to do the same on a larger scale.
Why Louisville Could Cover the Spread
This is one of those college football games where an underdog puts all its energies and hopes into one big game, gunning for an upset. In a best-of-seven series, Louisville wouldn't have a chance against Wake Forest. In one game on one Saturday, it could happen.
Final Wake Forest-Louisville Prediction & Pick
Wake Forest's offense should have its way with Louisville's defense. That should be enough to help the Demon Deacons win outright and cover.
Final Wake Forest-Louisville Prediction & Pick: Wake Forest -3.5
