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The North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Pitt Panthers. Check out our college football odds series for our North Carolina Pitt prediction and pick. Find how to watch North Carolina Pitt.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are unbeaten through three games, but their quality is still hard to pin down. They barely beat Appalachian State in Week 2 of the season. They were good, but not great, last week versus a Minnesota team with a very limited offense. Their Week 1 win over South Carolina could be seen as a very good win, given that South Carolina played Georgia tough. However, that same win over South Carolina might not turn out to be a high-end win, given that South Carolina's offense has struggled this year due to bad offensive line play.
The Pittsburgh Panthers are in trouble. They lost at home to Cincinnati, a team which is not expected to be particularly good this season. Then they lost at West Virginia, another team which is not expected to be good in 2023. Quarterback Phil Jurkovec has not played well, and coach Pat Narduzzi has to find answers on the offensive side of the ball in the Steel City.
Here are the North Carolina-Pitt College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: North Carolina-Pitt Odds
North Carolina Tar Heels: -7.5 (-108)
Pitt Panthers: +7.5 (-112)
Over: 50.5 (-110)
Under: 50.5 (-110)
How To Watch North Carolina vs. Pitt
TV: ACC Network
Stream: ESPN Plus
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT
*Watch North Carolina vs Pitt LIVE on fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Why North Carolina Could Cover the Spread
Drake Maye is a really good quarterback and one of many Heisman Trophy contenders in the first month of the season. If the game is fairly close, he can make a few high-impact plays which enable UNC to get a 10- or 14-point win. If the Tar Heels struggle to put away Pitt in the first three quarters, Maye can do it in the fourth quarter and enable Carolina to pull away for a multi-score (double-digit-point) victory.
Compare Maye to Jurkovec, too. It's not just that North Carolina has Maye; that's only part of the reason the Tar Heels are in good position to cover the spread. The other part — and, one could argue, the bigger part — is that Pittsburgh does not have the quarterback or the offense which can keep pace with the Tar Heels. Even if Pitt's defense does a moderately good job against Drake Maye, where will the points come from for Pitt's offense? That's a huge question in this game.
Why Pitt Could Cover the Spread
The Pitt Panthers play close games against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Last year's game was a blowout, but the previous several meetings were one-score games. The last game decided by more than eight points before last year? 1998. If this is a one-score game, Pitt will cover unless the margin is exactly eight points. North Carolina's offense is not playing its best. Pitt can muck it up and keep this game close.
Final North Carolina-Pitt Prediction & Pick
Drake Maye is good, Phil Jurkovec is not. You really don't need to overthink this one. North Carolina might not play a great game, but Pitt won't play a great-enough game to match whatever standard North Carolina sets. UNC doesn't have to be spectacular to win. Pitt will have to play far above expectations to win. Take North Carolina.
Final North Carolina-Pitt Prediction & Pick: North Carolina -7.5
