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North Carolina Tar Heels vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction & Picks - NCAA
by Dan Angell | in NCAA Picks
The North Carolina Tar Heels (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) visit the Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) in the season opener for both teams. Last year, this was the game where Minnesota's season began to sail off course, as the Golden Gophers fell by 18 points to the Tar Heels and ended up with a losing record. Although Minnesota won its bowl game, the Golden Gophers went just 3-7 SU and 2-8 ATS to finish 2023.
If the season was decided in September, North Carolina would probably have a national championship by now. The Tar Heels have handled August and September very well over the past two seasons, going 11-1 SU and 8-3-1 ATS in the first half of the season. Where the Heels run into trouble is the second half. Once the difficulty ramps up, Carolina has trouble keeping up, and usually ends the season as a four-loss squad. However, the Heels have road non-league games handled very well: they've won 10 straight against teams not named Notre Dame.
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North Carolina Tar Heels vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Form
Table
| Teams | % | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7
|
0.556 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
|
13
|
0.375 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
North Carolina Tar Heels and Minnesota Golden Gophers Latest Matches
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1/1 (100%)
Dec 27, 2023 - NCAA Division I, FBS, Playoffs
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0/1 (0%)
1/1 (100%)
Dec 27, 2023 - NCAA Division I, FBS, Playoffs
1/1 (100%)
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Dec 26, 2023 - NCAA Division I, FBS, Playoffs
1/1 (100%)
0/1 (0%)
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Dec 26, 2023 - NCAA Division I, FBS, Playoffs
North Carolina Tar Heels - Minnesota Golden Gophers Key Points
- The Tar Heels are 4-1 ATS in their past five non-league road games.
- The Tar Heels are 0-7 ATS in their past seven games overall.
- The Golden Gophers are 0-4 ATS in their past four games against Power 4 opponents.
- The Golden Gophers are 2-2 ATS in their past four non-conference games.
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Our North Carolina Tar Heels vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction
Minnesota has to do a better job of moving the football than it did in 2023. The Golden Gophers averaged just 20.9 points per game, their lowest total under Fleck. The defense also regressed in 2023, which left Minnesota deficient on both sides of the ball compared to where it's been.
And you have to score to keep up with North Carolina. The Tar Heels have sometimes treated defense as a four-letter word (examples include the 58-55 game with Wake Forest in 2021 and the 63-61 win over Appalachian State in 2022), but scoring has never been a problem. North Carolina has averaged no less than 34.5 points per game over the past four years, and even though Drake Maye is gone, Max Johnson is perfectly capable of picking up the slack. The Tar Heels also rarely lose in this part of the season, and especially not when expectations are lowered. Our prediction for North Carolina vs. Minnesota is North Carolina -1.5
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All tips are fully researched and given in good faith, but profits cannot be guaranteed.
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