I know what you're thinking. Why in the world should I listen to this guy after he laid a goose egg in week one with three wrong picks?

All I can say is, "That's college football."

A true sharp knows that sometimes the right pick just doesn't end up reflecting on the final scoreboard. Bad beats happen. In other words, stuff happens.

And that was exactly the case in week one for yours truly.

I'll be the first to admit, I underestimated Duke in week one when I picked Notre Dame to cover the 20.5-point spread. Duke quarterback Chase Brice, who transferred from Clemson over the offseason, was impressive in his first game for the Blue Devils and it look three-and-a-half quarters for the Fighting Irish to put the game away.

Speaking of Clemson, I picked the Tigers to cover the enormous 34.5-point spread in its season opener versus a well-coached Wake Forest team. The Demon Deacons were completely outmatched and Clemson was well on its way to covering with ease. Multiple dropped passes by Tigers receivers in the endzone throughout the game and a late Deacs touchdown in the final minutes of the fourth quarter after all of the starters were pulled prevented the cover.

Then there was the UNC game, in which I picked Syracuse as a 23-point dog. I'll die on the hill that this was still the correct pick. While North Carolina scored 21 fourth-quarter points to squeak out a cover, the Tar Heels looked lackluster at best for the first three quarters. Despite the late push from UNC, Syracuse left at least 10 points on the board in the first half with a punt return for a touchdown that was called back due to an unnecessary illegal block and a missed 29-yard field goal chip shot to end the final drive of the first half. Not a bad beat, a terrible one. Syracuse made a competitive case in week one that it will be the worst team in the ACC this season.

Justin's 2020 ACC spread picks record: 0-3

Let's see if we can get on the board this week. 0-0 mentality. Here are the week two picks:

Georgia Tech was on the right end of the ACC's biggest upset in week one with a 16-13 come-from-behind victory over Florida State in Tallahassee.

The win was an encouraging sign for Yellow Jackets fans as second-year coach Geoff Collins continues the rebuilding process in Atlanta.

However, the final box score Saturday was just as much affected by Florida State's disfunction in recent seasons as it does Georgia Tech's ability in 2020.

To be fair, true freshman quarterback Jeff Sims was impressive in the first college game of his career with a stat line of 277 passing yards on a 68.6 completion percentage, one touchdown and 64 rushing yards. He threw two interceptions, but what more could you ask for from a kid that was in high school this time last year?

Georgia Tech was picked to finish last in the ACC in the preseason media poll. With the help of Syracuse's performance Saturday, the Yellow Jackets showed it may have earned that title unfairly.

But all of the context mentioned above is what makes this a sucker spread from the house. Central Florida is still the top group of five football program in the nation and will be plenty energized in its only game against a Power Five opponent on its 2020 schedule.

The Yellow Jackets' celebration after a 1-0 start will crash back to reality Saturday with a double-digit Knights victory.

Justin's pick: UCF -7.5

Miami kicked off the season with a 31-14 win over UAB in a Thursday night game that opened the 2020 ACC football season.

Hurricanes quarterback D'Eriq King, a grad transfer from Houston, delivered a solid performance in his highly-anticipated debut with 227 total yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers.

The question remaining for King is if that can translate to ACC competition. Only 144 of those yards came through the air, something that will likely need to increase against better defenses than UAB's.

Lousiville is by no means a defensive juggernaut but the Cardinals have plenty of offensive firepower to match Miami's strong run game, which rushed for 337 yards in the opener. Quarterback Micale Cunningham, running back Javian Hawkins and wide receiver Tutu Atwell are all on the shortlist of Heisman contenders with at least 75/1 odds.

Assuming Lousiville can force King into passing-down situations Saturday, I like the Cardinals' chances to outscore the Hurricanes in what should be a high-scoring affair.

Justin's pick: Louisville -2.5

With a line of only one point, this game is essentially a pick'em. It's also the toughest game of the week to gauge.

On one hand, Wake Forest has the hot streak after winning the last three meetups in the annual in-state rivalry that has been played every year since 1910.

On the other, NC State will have the schematic advantage early with a new-look offense under new coordinator Tim Beck that has yet to develop any film for the Wake coaching staff to scout. The Demon Deacons also enter the game after getting beaten up by No. 1 Clemson last week 37-13.

I know what you're thinking. This is an NC State site. He has to pick the Wolfpack, right?

Wrong. And for the loyal readers of the site, I hope I am Saturday.

The Pack will land the first few punches and will go into the locker room with a halftime lead, but I'm fearful fatigue will play a factor in the second half for a young NC State roster that had to pause its fall camp for over a week less than one month ago.

Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren has only gotten back the bulk of his roster in the past 10 days from contact tracing quarantine following the 8-day pause in August. NC State will come out with lots of energy and should show that it is not the same 4-8 team from last season, but the factors of fatigue and youth worry me against Wake Forest's mistake-free brand of football.

Fun fact: NC State had the second-worst record against the spread (2-10) among FBS teams in 2019. I suspect that to change this fall, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth a year later.

I picked Wake 29-26 in overtime for our game predictions this week and I'm sticking with it. Wolfpack fans, you can thank me if I'm wrong.

Justin's pick: Wake Forest +1

Matt's 2020 ACC football Moneyline record: 1-0

Duke -230 at home over Boston College (12:00 p.m.)

*All lines via Bovada as of Friday, Sept. 18 and line history from Oddshark.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook