Stanford Cardinal (3-6) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (3-5)
November 8, 2025 4:30 pm EDT
The Line: North Carolina Tar Heels -9.5; Over/Under: 41.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Stanford Cardinal and the North Carolina Tar Heels meet Saturday in college football action from Kenan Memorial Stadium. Here’s a North Carolina vs Stanford prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best North Carolina vs Stanford pick.
Stanford Cardinal Betting Preview
The Cardinal opened up the season with some tricky matchups and ended up limping to a 1-3 run through their first four outings. Stanford beat Boston College by 10 points in that stretch, but otherwise lost to Hawaii, BYU and Virginia. Following a win over San Jose State, the Cardinal lost to SMU, beat Florida State and lost to Miami. In the 42-7 blowout road loss to the Hurricanes, Stanford gained just 144 yards with 2.7 yards per play, eight first downs and 4-of-14 on third-down tries. The Cardinal allowed 404 yards on the other side in the loss.
In their last matchup on Saturday versus Pittsburgh, the Cardinal kept it going with another defeat. Stanford gave up 14 points in both the second and third quarters on the way to a 35-20 result in the end. QB Ben Gulbranson finished with a 17-of-30 line for 228 yards, one TD and three picks, while Sedrick Irvin logged eight carries for 24 yards as the team’s leading rusher. CJ Williams topped the receivers in the defeat with seven catches for 122 yards and two scores. Sam Roush added eight catches for 104 yards as well.
North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Preview
Over on the North Carolina side, they came into the season with a pretty solid 2-1 run thanks to a loss to TCU followed by wins over Charlotte and Richmond. A losing streak began from there however, as the Tar Heels fell to UCF, Clemson, Cal and Virginia in the next quartet. Matched up against the Cavaliers the Tar Heels pushed the game to overtime but ended up losing a tough one by a single point at home. The offense had three turnovers and went just 5-of-15 on third-down tries, which helped add to the futility in the defeat.
North Carolina took on Syracuse this past Friday and turned their fortunes around. Following a modest 10-6 deficit at the break, the Tar Heels hit a 21-0 run the rest of the way in a 27-10 win. QB Gio Lopez was 15-of-19 for 216 yards and two touchdowns while leading rusher Demon June had 13 totes for 101 yards and a TD. June was also the leading receiver in the win with two catches for 81 yards and another score. Jordan Shipp chipped in six catches for 64 yards and his own touchdown as well.
Stanford Cardinal @ North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Trends: Week 11
North Carolina Tar Heels Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 11, Melkart Abou-Jaoude leads the Atlantic Coast Conference for sacks (7.0) this season.
Stanford Cardinal Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 11, C.J. Williams leads Stanford for touchdowns (4) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- North Carolina ranks 4th among FBS teams for Q4 opponent points per game this season (2.5).
- North Carolina ranks T5th among FBS teams for 4th down conversion percentage this season (76.9).
- Stanford has recorded the equal-most home wins by a margin of 10 points or less of any FBS team this season (3).
- Stanford has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 20+ points of any FBS team this season (4).
North Carolina vs Stanford Prediction
I’ll take a stab on North Carolina. That said, you could call this one either way. The Tar Heels started out slowly in their latest win over Syracuse but everything worked out well. UNC ended up with 425 yards, 209 rush yards and 6.9 yards per play but went just 4-of-13 on third downs. The defense did a great job though, holding the Orange to 147 yards, 2.9 yards per play, 12 first downs and 3-of-12 on third downs in the victory effort. After four straight weeks with fewer than 19 points, the Tar Heels posted 27 points on Friday.
As for Stanford, they gave up 466 yards, 304 pass yards, 6.4 yards per play and 25 first downs to Pitt in their latest defeat. It’s worth noting that the Cardinal had four takeaways and gave up 5-of-13 on third downs, but the offense didn’t help much with minus-10 rush yards and three picks of their own. Stanford is certainly capable of a competitive game against the Tar Heels here, but ultimately I think North Carolina pulls away on a cover this weekend.
