Georgia Tech +8.0 (-110)
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- Since former UofL quarterback Lamar Jackson entered the NFL Draft after the 2017 season, Louisville is 0-4 in season openers against Power 5 programs. In those four games, the Cards lost by an average margin of 24.5 points per game.
- The Cards’ new head coach Jeff Brohm also hasn’t been very successful in season openers. He was just 2-4 at Purdue in each of his team’s opening games, including losses to Northwestern, Indiana, and Louisville.
- Despite a disappointing 2022 season, Georgia Tech only lost by more than a touchdown in three ACC games last year. Two of those losses came to Clemson and Florida State, both of whom finished top 15 in the final AP Poll.
The Louisville Cardinals will battle the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Friday night in the 2023 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic. After a successful offseason, new head coach Jeff Brohm and the Cards enter as a dark-horse contender for this year’s ACC crown. Meanwhile, expectations are slightly lower for the Yellow Jackets in Brent Key’s first full season at the helm. Now, let’s take a closer look at this Louisville vs Georgia Tech matchup and make our best college football betting picks for the conference opener.
Louisville vs Georgia Tech Betting Pick
Louisville vs Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech +8.0 (-110)
Why Bet on Georgia Tech To Cover:
✅ Louisville has lost four consecutive season openers against Power 5 schools, including a stunning 31-7 loss to Syracuse last year as 5.5-point favorites. These matchups weren’t particularly close either, as all four losses came by 18 or more points.
✅ Jeff Brohm lost four of six season openers while serving as the head coach at Purdue from 2017 to 2022. He was also just 2-4 in conference openers with the Boilermakers.
✅ Georgia Tech managed to keep most of their conference games close in 2022, winning outright or losing by a touchdown or less in five of their eight ACC matchups last season. Their only big losses came to three of the conference’s top programs (Clemson, Florida State, and Miami).
This game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 7:30 PM ET on September 1, 2023.
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals finished the previous year with an 8-5 record, including a 24-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats in the 2022 Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Following the end of his fourth season with the team, Scott Satterfield chose to leave the University of Louisville and (ironically enough) accept the head coaching position at the University of Cincinnati.
Not long after, Louisville-native and former UofL quarterback Jeff Brohm announced he would be leaving his position at Purdue to return home and become the next head coach for the Cards.
Despite losing long-time starting quarterback Malik Cunningham, as well a handful of starters from the team’s 2022 defense that ranked second in the ACC in points per game allowed, Jeff Brohm has done an excellent job rebuilding the roster.
Adding quarterback Jack Plummer, wide receiver Jamari Thrash, cornerback Storm Duck, and several other key players has put Louisville in position to get off to a fantastic start in Brohm’s first season with the team. With a relatively soft schedule this year, the Cards may even have an outside shot at reaching their first ACC title game since joining the conference in 2014.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Meanwhile, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets finished the 2022 season at 5-7, missing out on a bowl game for their fourth consecutive season. Georgia Tech dismissed Geoff Collins early on in his fourth season with the team, after a 1-3 start to the year (which included blowout losses to Clemson, Ole Miss, and Central Florida).
Assistant Coach Brent Key took over as interim head coach for the Yellow Jackets and managed to finish the season with a 4-4 record, including victories over No. 13 North Carolina and No. 24 Pittsburgh. At the end of the year, the interim tag was taken off, and Brent Key was named the official head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Texas A&M transfer Haynes King has been already named the team’s starting quarterback heading into the 2023 season. He will look to help turn things around for a Georgia Tech offense that ranked in the bottom three in the ACC in both points per game and yards per game last season.
Though their over/under win total has been set at just 4.5 (according to DraftKings Sportsbook), many Yellow Jacket fans believe this team is more than capable of reaching their first bowl game since 2018.
