4. North Carolina
Caesars Win Total: 8.5
Win Total Should Be Set At: 6.5
– Bet on this, BetMGM latest line
8.5 is a massive number to hit for a North Carolina team that should be good, but will need a whole lot of things to go right against a sneaky-nasty slate.
Sam Howell will be among the ACC’s best quarterbacks. He’s got a good receiving corps to throw to, the offense should once again be explosive, and head coach Mack Brown has quickly boosted up the talent level enough to think that going 7-6 in 2019 – 6-6 in the regular season – was just the start of something big.
There are a few issues, though. First, the schedule. Actually, we’ll get to that in a moment.
Second, four of the top seven players from last year’s okay-not-amazing defense are done, and third, there was a whole lot of bum-slaying going on with last year’s Tar Heels.
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Five of the regular season six wins came against teams that finished with a losing record, and the sixth was against Mercer of the FCS. Three of the wins came by four points or fewer.
However, to be fair, all six losses were by a touchdown or less.
Back to the schedule, this really is going to be one of the better teams in the Coastal, but you need nine wins to hit the OVER.
At UCF to start the season – you feel all warm and comfy assuming a win in that?
Next up … Auburn in Atlanta. Yippee.
Soon after the slate gets rocky with Virginia, Duke and Miami all on the road, to go along with the battle with Virginia Tech.
Assume Pitt, at Boston College, and NC State won’t be total pushover games and hoping for four losses isn’t all that crazy.