College Football

West Virginia vs UCF Prediction 11-23-24 College Football Picks

UCF Knights (4-6) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (5-5)
November 23, 2024 2:33 pm EDT
The Line: West Virginia Mountaineers +1.5 / UCF Knights -1.5; Over/Under: +62.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Central Florida Knights and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet Saturday in college football action from Milan Puskar Stadium. Here’s a West Virginia vs UCF prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best West Virginia vs UCF pick.

UCF Knights Betting Preview

The Knights started off the season with three straight wins before hitting a losing streak versus Colorado, Florida, Cincinnati, Iowa State, and BYU. Since then Central Florida has taken out Arizona in a blowout and fallen to Arizona State in their last pair.


On November 9 versus Arizona State, UCF was outscored 14-10 in the second quarter but otherwise kept the pace in a tough loss 35-31. Dylan Rizk posted 229 yards and a pick. RJ Harvey did most of the offensive work on 127 yards and three scores from 25 carries.

West Virginia Mountaineers Betting Preview

Over on the West Virginia side, they started out the year on a 3-2 run with wins over Albany, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers went 2-2 in the next four with losses to Iowa State and Kansas State before wins versus Arizona and Cincinnati.

Matched up against Baylor on Saturday, the Mountaineers were down by seven points heading into the fourth quarter but couldn’t close the gap in a 49-35 loss. Garrett Greene threw two scores and a pick among 237 pass yards while also leading the rush on 22 totes for 129 yards and two more scores.

Why the West Virginia Mountaineers will win

  • West Virginia has won eight of its last nine games as an underdog against non-AP-ranked teams.
  • UCF has lost three of its last four games as a favorite.
  • West Virginia has covered the spread in eight of its last nine games as an underdog against non-AP-ranked teams.
  • UCF has failed to cover the spread in each of its last four games as a road favorite.

Why the UCF Knights will win

  • The road team has won each of West Virginia’s last six games.
  • West Virginia has lost each of its last three games at Milan Puskar Stadium.
  • The road team has covered the spread in each of West Virginia’s last six games.
  • West Virginia has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight November games as a home underdog.
  • West Virginia has lost the first half in each of its last three home games against conference opponents.

Total Points Facts

  • Each of West Virginia’s last five games in November has gone OVER the total points line.
  • Each of UCF’s last four games against conference opponents has gone OVER the total points line.

West Virginia vs UCF Prediction

I’ll probably just stay with West Virginia here. The Mountaineers did pretty well on offense for most of the game against Baylor, notching 499 yards (262 rushing) and 29 first downs. The 5-of-13 on third-down conversions wasn’t great though, and WVU allowed 512 yards (329 passing) on the other side. Still, the Mountaineers have scored 31 or more points in three straight and should put up a decent total here.

As for UCF, they nearly toppled Arizona State in a road matchup during their last game but fell just short. The Knights ended up with 406 yards (229 passing), 26 first downs, and 6-of-13 on third-down tries. The defense gave up just 260 yards (161 passing) and 18 first downs on the other side. The nine penalties didn’t help UCF’s cause, though. I think the Knights will hang around in this one but ultimately I like WVU to take the cover/win.

Andrew's Free Pick: West Virginia Mountaineers +1.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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