UNC is just a basketball school, right?
If you’ve been watching college football this year, you’ll realize the Tar Heels are making the case to also be considered as a football school.
Carolina’s 5-0 start, its best since 1997, is fueled by a resurgent Drake Maye, a suddenly-deep and talented wide receiver room, Omarion Hampton’s breakout Sophomore campaign, plus the defense.
The defense? Yes, you read that right. Nine sacks against South Carolina Week 1, 13 second half points between Weeks 1, 3, 4 and 5, much-improved pressure against opposing quarterbacks and a slew of transfers, highlighted by Alijah Huzzie and Amari Gainer.
UNC downed the Gamecocks, App State (close call), Minnesota, Pitt and Syracuse en route to being one of the ACC’s three undefeated teams (Florida State, Louisville). The Tar Heels are in the thick of contending for the conference crown, with their next task Miami on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
UNC will host UVA for its third straight home game next weekend, then hit the road for a date with its kryptonite, Georgia Tech, on Saturday, Oct. 28. Carolina will host Campbell (Nov. 4) and archrival Duke (Nov. 11) to close out its home slate, then travel to Clemson (Nov. 18) and rival N.C. State (Nov. 25) to end its regular season.
It’s always fun predicting the final scores of each matchup. We’re not going to do that today, but let’s take a look instead at UNC’s likelihood of winning each game, according to ESPN: