Fade The Putrid Panthers ... Ride The 49ers !

Did you think this was an NFL post ? Think again ! 

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The Charlotte 49ers and The FIU Panthers is where we are headed today on a double dose of Win Total Wednesday. 

First up Charlotte 49ers who play in Week 0 so there total is only up for a few more days. 

Charlotte 49ers OVER 4.5 Wins -121 

As the weeks move on the win totals you love get to be slim pickings. Regardless, I'm very bullish on The Charlotte 49ers. 

Let's start with what they need to improve. The defense. 

6 starters return on a unit that ranked 100+ in points allowed, rushing, passing and total yards allowed. New defensive coordinator Greg Brown will have his hands full and need to lean on his experience in the NFL and past Power 5 jobs. Three of the six returning starters are on the d-line, so Charlotte will need to rely on them to set the tone defensively. 

The aspect I think will be their bread and butter, as well as what not nearly enough people are talking about is their offense. In all 5 of Charlotte's wins last year they registered over 30 points. They couldn't turn that into a winning season because the defense allowed 30+ in 7 games, 40+ in 4 games and 50+ in another. No matter how great your offense is, when you can't stop anybody it's an uphill battle. 

The Conference USA Preseason All Conference 2nd Team has Charlotte's QB Chris Reynolds (2600 passing yards 26 TD, 9 INT), RB Shadrick Boyd (583 rush yards, 248 receiving yards, 5 total TD), and WR's Grant DuBose (62 receptions 892 yards, 6 TD) , Victor Tucker (51 receptions ,639 yards, 2 TD). Reynolds is a Senior, DuBose is a Junior, and Tucker in a Senior. The experience is there and the possibility to just straight up outscore teams is there. In a sense, I'm relying on that for Charlotte to hit this win total. 

The schedule has 3 absolute must win games (William and Mary, FIU, and @ Rice) 

Hand out 5 for sure losses in Maryland, @ Georgia State, @ S.Carolina, @ UAB, and Western Kentucky and you're holding 3-5 with 4 games to play. 

Those 4 being : @ Florida Atlantic to open the season (tune into Pick Em for my prediction on that game ), UTEP , @ Middle Tenn and Louisiana Tech. You would need to split those two and hit the total . For what it's worth , Charlotte has been predicted to finish above LA Tech and Middle Tenn in some outlets. 

I really do think Conference USA is a wacky conference where a hot offense can cause a lot of problems. I also think teams will have a hard time stopping this offense, or in some cases Charlotte just outscores teams and registers the wins we need. I like this team, I love this offense and I think they can cash the over and get to a bowl this season. 

Florida International Panthers UNDER 3 Wins -110 

FIU will bring in Mike MacIntyre in as Head Coach , who was at Memphis last season where he served as Defensive Coordinator. Last season Memphis ranked 87th in points per game allowed and 98th in total yards per game allowed. FIU returns just 2 starters on defense. Last year FIU was ranked 120+ in points allowed, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and total yards allowed. Things on offense look just as grim with just 2 starters returning. FIU overall ranks 124th in overall returning production. Things are never great when your new transfer QB is a guy who posted 7 TD and 8 INT at Duke last year. 

The crux of it for me comes down to this … FIU has 3 winnable games on their schedule. 

Bryant, @ New Mexico St and vs UCONN.

Of those three I don't think FIU sweeps New Mexico St and UCONN in back to back weeks. 

They will be a double digit dog in every other game. I see a ceiling of 3 wins and that's asking an inexperienced team and a first year coach to go cross country and win. 

Take the under… 

Previously released Win Totals

- UAB Over 8.5 

- Washington State Over 5.5

- N.ILL Over 6.5

- Kansas State Over 6.5 

- Hawaii Under 4.5 

- Air Force Over 8.5 

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