The North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4) and West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4) clash in Wednesday's Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook's lines around the'North Carolina vs. West Virginia odds, and make our expert'college football picks and predictions.
North Carolina limped to the finish line of the regular season with back-to-back losses. They lost to the No. 18 NC State Wolfpack in their last game 39-20, failing to cover as the 2.5-point favorite as the Over (55) hit. Future NFL Top-5 draft pick QB Drake Maye accounted for 360 yards of offense (254 passing, 106 rushing) and 3 TDs in the game. He declared for the draft and will not play. North Carolina went 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference to finish 7th.
The Mountaineers finished the regular season winning 4 of their last 5 games for a 6-3 Big 12 record to tie for 4th in the conference. Not bad for a team picked to finish last in the preseason Big 12 poll. They beat the Baylor Bears, 34-31 in their last game, but did not cover the spread as 11.5-point favorites. The game did go Over the 54.5 total. QB Garrett Greene passed for 269 yards, ran for 103 yards and accounted for 4 total TDs in the victory. West Virginia also got 133 yards rushing from RB Jaheim White.
These 2 teams last met in 2008 in Charlotte in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. West Virginia won 31-30, but the Tar Heels covered as the 2.5-point underdog and the Over (47) hit.