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North Carolina Tar Heels: Vegas’ Coastal Pick

By John Woodcock

Nov 7, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) looks to pass as Duke Blue Devils defensive end Deion Williams (48) defends in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 66-31 at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) looks to pass as Duke Blue Devils defensive end Deion Williams (48) defends in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 66-31 at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Appalachian State Mountaineers are primed to repeat their success of last year, just maybe not the win total.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the lucky ones this football season. That is if you listen to Vegas. Vegas odds don’t have a lot of nice things to say regarding the Tobacco Road programs. They don’t have a lot of bad things to say either. They seem to believe that the Tobacco Road schools will be generally around bowl eligibility except for the Tar Heels.

So let’s look at the seven FBS schools in the state and the Vegas odds for each. A true schedule analysis will have to wait for later.

ACC

North Carolina Tar Heels: 8.5 wins

NC State Wolfpack: 6 wins

Duke Blue Devils: 5.5 wins

Wake Forest Demon Deacons: 5.5 wins

The good news lies with the Deacs and the Heels. These Vegas win numbers say that the Demon Deacons could be bowling this season and that necessitates improvement. Improvement is good and would be welcome in Winston-Salem.

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The Heels would take a step a back from last season’s performance according to this number, however this little subset does not show the three schools rated high than the Heels. They are Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville. The common thread there is that they are all in the Atlantic Division, which means Vegas likes the Heels to repeat as Coastal Division champs.

Even if it isn’t at the eleven win mark, that is the next hurdle for the Tar Heel program to shoot for: the ACC Championship.

Duke and State are both to hang around the magic bowl number. Duke lost some defensive pieces while State lost quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Vegas doesn’t like uncertainty and so both teams are rated lower than last year.

East Carolina Pirates: 5.5 wins

Vegas isn’t quite sure what to do with the American Athletic Conference. Many of the schools are rated where the Pirates are or are just above them. Again this is a function of the new coach and no one exactly knowing how the transition would fare.

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Charlotte 49ers: 2.5 wins

The lowest rated team on this list, but there is some good news even with a prediction this low. The 49ers only won two games last year so to be at 2.5 has to be an improvement, right? The problem that the 49ers have is that the next team up is 1.5 games away and not clustered near them like the Pirates.

Appalachian State Mountaineers: 8.5 wins

That 8.5 number may not sound too impressive, but the Mountaineers are the highest rated Sun Belt team in these Vegas rankings. Georgia Southern is second at 8 wins. That should be a good indicator that the Sun Belt is for the taking this year. If anybody can do it, App should.

Next: Barnes and McAdoo to the Finals

So that is the view from one Vegas wins sheet. I am not planning to wait on Vegas, and so the Banter will have its own predictions for the teams a little later in the summer.

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