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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a North Carolina-Wake Forest prediction and pick. Find out how to watch North Carolina-Wake Forest.
Early in this college basketball season, back in the first half of November, North Carolina played a very tough, close, competitive game against the Kansas Jayhawks. The Tar Heels didn't win, but they looked like they belonged on the same court with a Kansas team which defeated Duke and was projected to be a Final Four contender before the season began. It was hard to think that North Carolina would struggle so profoundly this season, but that is what the Tar Heels are doing. They are laboring. They are making everything look difficult. Very little comes easily for this team. It had some blowout wins over Cal and SMU, but for the most part, ACC play has been a slog for UNC even though the conference is not very strong. Duke is an elite team, but there are no other elite teams in the 2025 ACC. There are a few good teams, but that's it.
The ACC is a far cry from being the chamber of death it used to be, when Syracuse was a tough out under Jim Boeheim and Virginia was elite under Tony Bennett. Miami was a Final Four program under Jim Larranaga. Florida State was a Sweet 16-level program for several years under Leonard Hamilton. NC State was good enough to get at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame was a strong team a decade ago under then-coach Mike Brey. One by one, ACC basketball programs have fallen off the pace and have regressed relative to previous standards. In this ACC — which has been eroded in quality almost entirely across the board, with only a few exceptions — North Carolina should be dominating. The Tar Heels should be right there with Louisville, at the very least, battling to be the second-place team in the conference. Instead, the Heels are nowhere close to that standard. They are tied for fifth in the league.
North Carolina is 12-7 overall and is playing very close games against teams in the lower half of the conference. UNC was fortunate to beat Notre Dame earlier in January. The Tar Heels scraped by North Carolina State by two points. This past Saturday, UNC played with fire once again, getting roped into a nailbiter with Stanford at home. This time, the tendency to play with food and not take care of business clearly and decisively caught up with the Tar Heels. They got burned on a last-second bucket in a one-point loss to the Cardinal. North Carolina is squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Because the ACC doesn't have a lot of great teams, the Tar Heels can't punch their ticket with just one or two wins (unless they beat Duke, the sole exception to this dynamic). They will likely need to win the vast majority of ACC games just to nudge themselves toward the right side of the bubble. Any collection of losses to the lower end of the ACC in the next six weeks will damage Carolina's profile. It's a very uneasy situation for the Tar Heels as they face bubble-hugging Wake Forest in a really big game for both sides.
Here are the North Carolina-Wake Forest College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: North Carolina-Wake Forest Odds
North Carolina: +1.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +100
Wake Forest: -1.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -120
Over: 148.5 (-110)
Under: 148.5 (-110)
How to Watch North Carolina vs Wake Forest
Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why North Carolina Will Cover The Spread/Win
North Carolina knows that after the Stanford loss, it must play with even more urgency. That will be the positive difference for the Tar Heels here.
Why Wake Forest Will Cover The Spread/Win
North Carolina is a mediocre team. Wake is playing better than UNC and is at home.
Final North Carolina-Wake Forest Prediction & Pick
Stay far away from a game between two unreliable teams. Pass.
Final North Carolina-Wake Forest Prediction & Pick: North Carolina moneyline
