A pair of AAC teams will face off against each other in a nationally televised game on ESPN Thursday night at 7:30 PM when the SMU Mustangs travel to Greenville, North Carolina to face the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in week 7 of the college football season.

The SMU Mustangs enter this game with a record of 3-2 following a 34-16 win at home against the Charlotte 49ers while failing to cover the 22.5-point spread as a home favorite in week 5 of the college football season. SMU scored 34 points while compiling a total of 363 yards offensively which included 135 passing yards and 228 rushing yards while allowing 16 points and 331 total yards defensively which included 164 passing yards and 167 rushing yards. Preston Stone led the team in passing, completing 14 of 23 attempts for 135 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while adding 20 rushing yards. Jaylan Knighton led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Bailey led the team in receiving, catching all three targets for 34 yards.

East Carolina enters this game with a record of 1-4 following a 17-24 loss on the road against the Rice Owls while failing to cover the 3.5-point spread as a road underdog in week 5 of the college football season. The Pirates scored 17 points while compiling a total of 391 yards offensively which included 246 passing yards and 145 rushing yards while allowing 24 points and 277 total yards defensively which included 240 passing yards and 37 rushing yards. Alex Flinn led the team in passing, completing 21 of 44 attempts for 246 yards and an interception while adding 21 rushing yards. Javious Bond led the team in rushing with seven carries for 72 yards. Chase Sowell led the team in receiving, catching seven of ten targets for 88 yards.

BookMaker has the SMU Mustangs listed as 12-point favorites on the road against the East Carolina Pirates on Thursday night in week 7 of the college football season. East Carolina has won four of the nine games all-time while going 5-4 ATS all-time and 2-1 ATS in the last three games in the series. SMU is 2-3 ATS overall, 0-2 ATS on the road, 2-1 ATS as a favorite, and 0-1 ATS in conference games this season while the East Carolina Pirates are 2-3 ATS overall, 1-1 ATS at home, 1-3 ATS as an underdog, and 0-1 ATS in conference games on the year.

SMU enters this game with a winning record at 3-2 while East Carolina only has one win on the year which came against an FCS school. The Mustangs have been a better team when covering the spread as a favorite going 2-1 ATS while the Pirates have struggled to cover the spread going 1-3 ATS as an underdog. I look for that trend to continue on Thursday night which is why I am taking the SMU Mustangs -12 in week 7 of the college football season against the East Carolina Pirates.