Virginia Football Opens as Home Underdog vs. SMU in Week 13

Matt Newton | 3 Hours Ago

Virginia Athletic

The Virginia Cavaliers opened as around 10-point underdogs in their week 13 home game against the SMU Mustangs this Saturday at 12pm (ESPN2) in Charlottesville.

UVA was handed a 35-14 loss by Notre Dame, now ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25, on Saturday evening in South Bend and the Cavaliers are now back at .500 at 5-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play, still needing one more win to reach bowl eligibility. SMU, meanwhile, is up to to No. 13 in this week's AP Top 25 after winning its seventh-straight game over Boston College 38-28 last weekend to move to 9-1 on the season. The Mustangs have still yet to lose a conference game in their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, sitting at a perfect 6-0 in ACC play.

Each of the major sportsbooks have SMU favored to beat Virginia by 9.5 points as of Monday morning. The over/under is currently set at 58.5 points according to each sportsbook.

See the table below for the spread, moneyline, and over/under for Virginia vs. SMU according to FanDuel, Caesars, Bet365, DraftKings, and BetMGM.

Sportsbook	Spread	Moneyline	Over/Under
FanDuel	SMU -9.5	SMU -310	58.5
Caesars	SMU -9.5	SMU -333	58.5
Bet365	SMU -9.5	SMU -320	58.5
DraftKings	SMU -9.5	SMU-325	58.5
BetMGM	SMU -9.5	SMU-350	58.5

Virginia is 5-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play this season, but the Cavaliers have fared remarkably well against the spread. Depending on the sportsbook, UVA either narrowly covered or failed to cover the spread in the 35-14 loss to Notre Dame last Saturday. The Fighting Irish were favored by as many as 23.5 points throughout the week, but some lines closed with Notre Dame favored to win by 20.5 points. If that's the line you go with, then Virginia just barely failed to cover with its last-minute touchdown run by Tony Muskett. Even with that result, UVA is 6-3-1 against the spread this season and the Hoos have covered in five of their last seven games. Seven of Virginia's 10 games this season have failed to cover the point total and the under has hit in each of UVA's last three games.

SMU is 9-1 overall, but 6-4 against the spread. The Mustangs failed to cover a 19-point spread at home in their 38-28 victory over Boston College last week. Like Virginia, SMU has not covered in two of its last three games, but successfully covered in four-straight games before that. The over has hit in seven of SMU's 10 games this season, including six of the last seven games and each of the last three games.

Virginia (5-5, 3-3 ACC) is set to host No. 13 SMU (9-1, 6-0 ACC) on Senior Day and the final home game of the season for UVA on Saturday, November 23rd in Charlottesville. Kickoff between the Cavaliers and Mustangs is set for 12pm ET at Scott Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

More Virginia Football News

UVA Football Report Card: Handing Out Grades for Virginia vs. Notre Dame

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's Loss to Notre Dame

Five Takeaways from Virginia Football's 35-14 Loss to Notre Dame

Costly Turnovers Doom Virginia Football to 35-14 Loss at Notre Dame