It's a ranked matchup at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Jumpman Invitational. The North Carolina Tar Heels and Oklahoma Sooners will face off in the top matchup on Wednesday night. It is time to continue our college basketball odds series with a North Carolina-Oklahoma prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

North Carolina's schedule has been full of high-end teams, contributing to their 7-3 record. They've taken back-to-back losses to Kentucky and UConn and dropped a tight contest to Villanova earlier in the year. North Carolina was a small favorite to Kentucky and Villanova but were 5.5-point underdogs in the loss to UConn. Rarely does a team play three consecutive top-10 teams during the regular season, but that is the test that North Carolina is taking on Wednesday night. Questions will start being asked about the Tar Heels if they lose a fourth game to the top competition. If they can't find a way to beat the best teams, North Carolina's confidence will be low to make a run in March and April.

Oklahoma is 10-0 so far this season but hasn't had anywhere near the same schedule difficulty as North Carolina. They have been underdogs once, beating USC by two points as 2.5-point underdogs. Their most convincing win (and only win away from home) was against Iowa when they won by 13 as 1.5-point favorites. Nevertheless, Oklahoma has done a great job covering those spreads, boasting an 8-2-0 ATS record. The only times they failed to cover were as 27.5-point and 26-point favorites against inferior competition. Looking at their schedule, both contests were before important games, so they fell victim to the look-ahead spot.

Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Basketball Odds: North Carolina-Oklahoma Odds

North Carolina: -2.5 (-120) ML (-154)

Oklahoma: +2.5 (-102) ML (+128)

Over: 155.5 (-110)

Under: 155.5 (-110)

How to Watch North Carolina vs. Oklahoma 

Time: 9 PM ET/6 PM PT

TV: ESPN

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why North Carolina Will Cover The Spread

North Carolina has a lot riding on this matchup with Oklahoma. They knew they had a gauntlet coming in the early parts of the season, but they likely had no idea that Oklahoma may be their toughest test. Oklahoma will be the third Top-1o team that North Carolina faces in a row. They dropped the previous two games to Kentucky and UConn, which means they will have added motivation to grab a win here. While it's a “neutral site” game, it will be played for the Jumpman Classic in the home of the Charlotte Hornets. It is a defacto home game for North Carolina in their home state, and Oklahoma has only had one road game so far this season.

North Carolina lost by nine to UConn as 5.5-point underdogs. Then, they lost by four to Kentucky as 1-point favorites. Earlier in the year, they were 2.5-point favorites when they lost to Villanova by two. They are failing to match their expectations when facing Top-10 teams this season. This should scare you away from betting on a team. However, in this spot, you should be thinking the opposite. They will be even more determined to beat Oklahoma on Wednesday night and quiet the pundits who say they can't compete with top talent.

Oklahoma is 10-0, but they haven't been playing teams like North Carolina. Their toughest game was a two-point win over USC as 2.5-point underdogs. Since that game, USC has lost to Gonzaga and Auburn by double digits and dropped an overtime game to Long Beach State. It's possible USC isn't the team we thought they were when they played Oklahoma, meaning that win doesn't even carry as much merit.

Why Oklahoma Will Cover The Spread

The biggest reason to bet Oklahoma tonight would be if you are skeptical of North Carolina's losses. They have failed to show up against some of the top teams in the nation, losing to Kentucky, UConn, and Villanova. If you believe in what Oklahoma is doing and think they can challenge North Carolina tonight, then bet on North Carolina to take a third consecutive loss. In terms of the spread, North Carolina has a 4-6-0 record ATS in their last ten, while Oklahoma has a much better 8-2-0 record.

The biggest issue for North Carolina will be slowing down Oklahoma's offense, but the question that needs to be asked is: Does Oklahoma's offensive metrics look better than they are from playing inferior opponents, and does North Carolina's defensive metrics look worse than they are from playing the nation's top teams?

Final North Carolina-Oklahoma Prediction & Pick

There's reason to believe that Oklahoma isn't as good of a team as their 10-0 record would suggest. On paper, their best win is an underdog victory over USC. USC has lost three of their five games since and holds a 6-5 record. The win over USC was only by two points after coming in as 2.5-point underdogs. Their other big win was over Iowa, who has lost three of six games since and has an identical 6-5 record. While North Carolina has been having showdowns with Top-10 teams, Oklahoma is battling pretenders and some of the worst teams in the nation. Fatigue shouldn't be a factor for North Carolina, as they had nine days off after the UConn loss before losing to Kentucky on Saturday night.

Take advantage of getting North Carolina as just 2.5-point favorites here and rely on them to be determined to beat a Top-10 team after two disappointing losses.

Final North Carolina-Oklahoma Prediction & Pick: North Carolina -2.5 (-120)