Bodog Beat

Who do you have your money on? (AP Images)

The East Carolina Pirates came out of nowhere (okay, Conference USA, which is practically nowhere) to pillage Virginia Tech and West Virginia in the first two weeks of the college football season. But it looks like the party could already be over for ECU. The Pirates (-11) struggled to beat Tulane 28-24 at the Superdome last week, and they lost starting linebacker Quentin Cotton to a knee injury, probably for the rest of the season.

Bettors aren’t quite ready yet to jump off the ECU bandwagon. The Pirates are 7.5-point favorites against North Carolina State (1-2 SU, 1-1 ATS), one of the teams struggling to get some traction in the ACC. Early action was on ECU’s side; the Wolfpack beat the Pirates (-6) 34-20 last year, but haven’t gotten off the ground offensively after losses to South Carolina and Clemson. I’m going to be skeptical about the Cotton injury and pick the Pack.