2014 Record: 8-5

2015 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 7.0*

2015 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Under'

Ruffin McNeill's Pirates got off to a blistering start to 2014, winning six of their first seven games and scoring back-to-back upsets of Virginia Tech - in Blacksburg! - and North Carolina. They posted a respectable 5-3 showing in their first season in the American Athletic (stepping up from Conference USA), and they played Florida tough in a bowl loss last December.

However, ECU stumbled down the stretch and lost four of its final six games to close last year, and they came back to earth after that overachieving start. Now East Carolina has to try to do it all over again; and do it without record-setting quarterback Shane Carden and dynamic receivers Justin Hardy and Cam Worthy.

ECU has just 12 starters back from last year's team. But they are solid in the trenches with four offensive line starters back from the No. 5 total offense in the country and four of their front seven starters back from last year's No. 11 rush defense. The question will be how the skill positions shake out on offense and how the secondary holds up defensively.

East Carolina has been a very consistent program over the last decade, failing to get over .500 just three times in that stretch. They have a very healthy pool of talent to draw on and a solid system in place. However, they overachieved last year. And the schedule is rugged this season. After an opening-week cupcake (Towson), the Pirates play four of their next five games on the road with trips to Florida, Navy and BYU. And the one home game is against revenge-minded Virginia Tech. They also have to travel to Central Florida, and ECU has tough home games against Temple and Cincinnati. There just aren't a lot of "gimmes" on this slate.

I think that East Carolina is set to go 'under' this year, and I'll call for them to go 6-6.

2015 East Carolina Pirates Schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME (ET) Location Result

Sat, Sep 5th, 2015 Towson 06:00 PM Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Sat, Sep 12th, 2015 at Florida TBA Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Fl

Sat, Sep 19th, 2015 at Navy 03:30 PM Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Sta

Sat, Sep 26th, 2015 Virginia_Tech TBA Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Sat, Oct 3rd, 2015 at SMU TBA Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Oct 10th, 2015 at BYU TBA LaVell Edwards Stadium

Sat, Oct 17th, 2015 Tulsa TBA Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Thu, Oct 22nd, 2015 Temple 07:00 PM Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Fri, Oct 30th, 2015 at Connecticut 07:00 PM Rentschler Field

Sat, Nov 7th, 2015 So_Florida TBA Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Thu, Nov 19th, 2015 at UCF 07:30 PM Bright House Networks Stadium

Sat, Nov 28th, 2015 Cincinnati TBA Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

All Times EST

*Season Win Total Odds from 5Dimes Sportsbook.

Robert Ferringo has been the top football handicapper in the country the past two years, earning nearly $13,000 in total football profit with back-to-back winning seasons. Robert has tallied over $20,000 in football profit the last four years and in 2013 he hit 62.1 percent for the entire NFL season (95-58). Robert has produced an incredible 12 of 16 winning football months. Going back further he has churned out 35 of 51 winning football months, four of five winning overall seasons, seven of eight winning preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 600 football picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted two of three winning seasons and is 101-71 over the last two years (58.7 percent).

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