Bodog Beat

If recent history holds, Friday's 102nd edition of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt (9-1) and West Virginia (7-3) will be a close, low-scoring game: The Panthers have won the past two meetings by four points each and the total never exceeded 34 points.

Pittsburgh is a 1-point favorite on Bodog's college football odds this time around, with the total expected to be set around 49.

WVU is really only playing for bowl position, while a Pitt win would set up basically a Big East Championship Game next week against Cincinnati. But the Panthers could still claim the conference's automatic BCS bowl berth with a loss against WVU and a win next week.

Pitt, which has won six in a row (4-2 ATS) is led by future Heisman candidate Dion Lewis, who leads the Big East in rushing yards (1,291) and TDs (13). He has run for 100 yards in seven games, has five two-TD games and is fourth in the nation in rushing as a freshman. QB Bill Stull, who was very inconsistent last season, has been great this year, ranking fourth in the nation in QB rating – he has a TD-to-interception ratio of 18:4 compared to 9:10 last season.

WVU enters off a loss to Cincinnati back on Nov. 13. Thus this game will mark the Mountaineers' first back-to-back games against Top 10 teams in the AP poll since 1959. All three of West Virginia's losses have come on the road this year, but it is just 1-4 ATS at home.

Obviously WVU will focus on Pitt's Lewis, but the Mountaineers' run defense has not been good of late, allowing an average of 202 yards in the past three games. When deciding on your college football bets on this one, know that WVU has allowed four 100-yard rushers this year and it is 2-2 in those games.

Get all your college football betting lines at Bodog Sportsbook.