The North Carolina Tar Heels are set to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this weekend. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our college football odds series, which includes our North Carolina-Notre Dame prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.

Here’s how the bookmakers have set the North Carolina-Notre Dame odds:

College Football odds: North Carolina-Notre Dame Odds 

North Carolina: +3.5 (-110)

Notre Dame: -3.5 (-110)

Over: 62.5 (-110)

Under: 62.5 (-110)

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Why North Carolina Could Cover the Spread 

North Carolina is a team that had an unstoppable offense and an improved defense this year, but they are having a mediocre season. They are coming off a hard-fought 45-42 home victory over Miami to move to 4-3 overall. The defense has been problematic over the last five games, as the Tar Heels have allowed 35 points or more in four of their last five. Against Miami, the Tar Heels allowed 421 total yards, but had three interceptions and three sacks in the win.

The offense has been the strength of this North Carolina football team. They are 13th in the nation in total yards (471.3) and points per game (36.9). Quarterback Sam Howell leads the charge with 18 TDs on 1,851 passing yards and just six interceptions. He is set up for a good passing game against a mediocre ND defense that allows 6.7 passing yards per play. The Tar Heels have had an extra week to prepare for this matchup and have the offensive firepower to hang around with the Fighting Irish. In their last five home games, Notre Dame is just 1-4 against the spread. The road team is 5-0 against the spread in the last five meetings between both football teams.

Why Notre Dame Could Cover the Spread 

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have won three of their last four home games. They are 6-1 on the season so far, ranked 11th in the nation. Last game, the Irish defeated USC 31-16 at home. Despite the rushing game being an issue for ND, they still ran for 170 yards on USC last week and running back Kyren Williams had his best game of the season finishing with 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns. ND offense ranks 36th in ppg (31.0) and 83rd in yards per game (369.0).

Jack Coan leads the aerial attack with 1,397 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He will need to have a big game in order to keep pace with the Tar Heel offense. The Fighting Irish defense comes in ranked 95th against the pass, 32nd against the run, and 53rd in points allowed at 23.1 ppg. The Irish are 16-5 against the spread in their last 21 home games versus a team with a winning road record while UNC is 2-7 against the spread in their last nine games following a straight-up win.

Final North Carolina-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick

Notre Dame is 4-1 against the spread over their last five games. The Irish are starting to get their ground game going and the Tar Heels have struggled against the run giving up 160 rush yards per game to opponents. If this game was in North Carolina, I would lean towards the Tar Heels. However, Notre Dame has won three of their last four home games and the crowd will play a huge factor in this matchup. I would lay the points with the Fighting Irish on Saturday night.

Final UNC-Notre Dame Pick: Notre Dame -3.5 (-110)