Syracuse Orangemen at North Carolina Tar Heels Odds & Game Pick (2020)
“Week Zero†has come and gone in what should be a very fluid 2020 college football season, as the big boys in the ACC and Big 12 get started this week. While COVID cases continue to surge across college campuses, the NCAA has remained steadfast that the show will go on, and thus we’ll be there looking to cash in.
One of the first games to kick off tomorrow will be a battle between conference foes looking to steer their programs in the right direction after mediocre 2019 campaigns.
Let’s take a closer look.
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
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Details
- Opening Lines: North Carolina -19; O/U 64
- Current Line: North Carolina -23
- O/U: 65.5
- Location: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC
- Start Time: 12:00 pm ET
- Television: ACCN
- Last Meeting: October 20, 2018 – North Carolina 37, Syracuse 40
Overview
Not historically synonymous with winning football, the North Carolina Tar Heels come into their 2020 campaign with plenty to be optimistic about. After second-year Tar Heel head coach Mack Brown took this team from 2-9 to 7-6 in just one season, he returns with 10 starters on the offensive side of the ball, including 2020 Heisman candidate Sam Howell.
In his first year under center, Howell threw for 3,641 yards to go along with 38 touchdowns and a QBR of 160.3. Add seven defensive starters to the mix, and it’s easy to see why hopes are high in Chapel Hill.
For fifth-year head coach Dino Barbers, 2018 seemed to be the season where he started turning the tide of a historically below-average program. And then the floor fell out in 2019. Going just 5-7 with losses to Boston College, NC State, and Pittsburgh, the Orangemen struggled to find consistency as then-sophomore quarterback Tommy DeVito never took that next step.
With last year’s slip-ups, Babers needs to get it together and quickly if he wants to remain a head coach in what’s turning into an increasingly competitive ACC. With no spring practices to speak of, just four starters on the defensive side of the ball returning, and new coordinators coming in on both sides of the ball, I expect that to be an uphill battle.
- Tar Heels are 2-3 all-time in the series, having won the last two
- Tar Heels were 4-0 ATS in their final four as favorites in 2019
- The Orangemen are 1-4 ATS in their last five games as a road underdog
Bottom Line
Take a closer look at these two programs coming into 2020 and it’s fairly obvious why this line saw immediate money pour in on North Carolina. In a season which offered little to no spring ball for either team, continuity and chemistry on each side of the ball, in my mind, is what will make the difference.
In the end, I think the turnover within Syracuse will be too much to overcome against a future first-round quarterback and a program with an incoming top 2020 recruiting class in North Carolina.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.