The North Carolina Tar Heels and the South Carolina Gamecocks meet Saturday in college football action from Bank of America Stadium. North Carolina managed to go 9-5 overall last year and ended up taking a tough loss in the Holiday Bowl to finish off the season. As for South Carolina, they’re coming off an 8-5 run in 2022, ultimately taking a loss in the Gator Bowl. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Carolina Tar Heels 

The Tar Heels hit a 9-1 run in their first 10 games last year (losing to Notre Dame), then hit the skids. The final four games were all losses—three of those by four points or fewer. North Carolina fell in the ACC Championship game to Clemson 39-10, then lost to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl 28-27 to end the season on a couple of very sour notes. 

Hopes are high for the Tar Heels heading into 2023, and by all indications the team should at least flirt with double-digit wins once again. QB Drake Maye is back under center under the guidance of new OC Chip Lindsey, and they’ve got a stellar receiving corps to work with. Josh Downs and Antoine Green are gone, but pretty much everyone else is back and ready to rock. The Tar Heels are going to rack up some passing yards this year. 

North Carolina Tar Heels Team Facts

North Carolina has lost three of its last four games as a favorite at neutral venues.
The underdog has covered the spread in five of North Carolina’s last six games.
North Carolina has lost the first half in each of its last four games against opponents from the Southeastern Conference.
Five of North Carolina’s last six September games against non-AP-ranked teams have gone OVER the total points line.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Over on the Gamecocks’ side, they started off a shaky 1-2 last year but wouldn’t lose consecutive outings for the rest of the season. After late-November wins over Tennessee and Clemson, South Carolina put up a sketchy outing in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, falling 45-38 to finish at 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. 

There’s some reason to feel optimism about South Carolina coming into the 2023 season but we’ll probably have to wait a few games to see how things shake out. On offense Spencer Rattler is back at QB, and he’ll have a few big receiver names returning like Antwane Wells and transfer TE Trey Knox. The offensive line is full of question marks and coming off a pretty rough year for pass protection and tackles for loss allowed, though. It’s certainly a mixed bag. 

South Carolina Gamecocks Team Facts

South Carolina has lost each of its last eight September games against AP-ranked teams.
The underdog has covered the spread in each of South Carolina’s last four games at Bank of America Stadium.
South Carolina has won the first half in five of its last six games against non-conference opponents.
South Carolina has won the first quarter in each of its last three games against non-conference opponents at neutral venues.
Each of South Carolina’s last five games as an underdog at neutral venues have gone OVER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

South Carolina ranked 18th among FBS teams for Q3 points per game last season (8.8).
South Carolina ranked 25th among FBS teams for H2 points per game last season (16.5).
North Carolina was one of only six FBS teams to remain undefeated in road games last season (6-0) (min. 8 games).
North Carolina was one of only 17 FBS teams with a better road winning percentage (1.000) than home winning percentage (.500) last season (min. 8 games).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stay with the Tar Heels in this one. The key matchups here are going to be when North Carolina has the ball. The Gamecocks defense was one of their ongoing issues last season; run defense in particular was tough, as the team gave up 200 or more yards on the ground seven times. With Jordan Burch gone to Oregon there’s not much of a pass rush to speak of either, so it’s going to be tough for South Carolina to get much pressure up front. North Carolina’s offensive line isn’t perfect by any stretch but they should get enough of a push to keep the chains moving. I like the Tar Heels to dominate in time of possession in this opener and bag a convincing victory.