The North Carolina Tar Heels finished last season with a record of 9-5 and an ACC record of 6-2 which led to a 1^st place finish in the Coastal Division of the ACC and an appearance in the ACC Championship game against the Clemson Tigers which resulted in a 10-39 loss. The Tar Heels made a bowl game for the 4^th consecutive season with an appearance in the Holiday Bowl against the Oregon Ducks which resulted in a 27-28 loss in Mack Brown’s 14^th season as head coach for the Tar Heels. 

North Carolina will have a new Offensive Coordinator this season after Phil Longo left to become the Offensive Coordinator for the Wisconsin Badgers with the hiring of Chip Lindsey as the new Offensive Coordinator Lindsey served as the Offensive Coordinator for the UCF Knights last season. 

This season, North Carolina enters the year ranked 21^st in the AP Poll and 20^th in the Coaches Poll while having an over/under win total of 8.5 wins and based on Vegas projections is projected to be the 3^rd best team in the ACC behind the Clemson Tigers and Florida State Seminoles.

South Carolina finished the 2022 college football season with an overall record of 8-5 and a record of 4-4 in the SEC which led to a 3^rd place in the East Division of the ACC and the Gamecocks making a bowl game for the 2^nd consecutive season under Shane Beamer while ending the year ranked 23^rd in the Coaches Poll and 23^rd in the AP Poll. 

The Gamecocks will have a new Offensive Coordinator with the hiring of Dowell Loggains who recently served as the Tight Ends coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks. This season, South Carolina enters the season with an over/under win total of 6.5 wins which means the Gamecocks are projected to become bowl-eligible for the 3^rd consecutive season and are projected to be the 4^th worst team in the SEC, only better than the Vanderbilt Commodores, Missouri Tigers, and Arkansas Razorbacks.

BookMaker has the North Carolina Tar Heels listed as 2.5-point favorites on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks in week 1 of the college football season on Saturday. South Carolina has won four of the five games all-time in the series and has won by an average score of 24.6 to 16.6 while going 3-2 ATS in those contests with the most recent matchup occurring in 2021 which resulted in a 38-21 win for the Gamecocks and South Carolina covering the 12-point spread. 

North Carolina finished last season with a record of 6-7-1 ATS overall, 3-2-1 ATS on the road and 2-6-1 ATS as a favorite while South Carolina finished 7-6 ATS overall, 4-3 ATS at home, and 4-4 ATS as an underdog.

North Carolina is the more talented team this season as they enter the year ranked in the top 25 in both the AP and Coaches Polls with a ranking of 21^st and 20^th respectively while having an over/under win total of 8.5 wins while South Carolina has an over/under win total of 6.5 wins. 

However, South Carolina has been the better team in the series, winning four of the five games all-time while going 3-2 ATS in those matchups. I look for that trend to continue which is why I will be buying the .5 point and taking the South Carolina Gamecocks +3 against the North Carolina Tar Heels on BookMaker.