The North Carolina Tar Heels will play the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday, December 27^th, in Charlotte, North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium with the game scheduled to start at 5:30 PM ET on Wednesday evening and will air on ESPN.

 

North Carolina finished the regular season with a record of 8-4 which led to a 6^th place finish in the ACC, however, they finished the season on a two-game losing streak which included a 20-29 loss on the road against the NC State Wolfpack in their season finale.

 

The Tar Heels were one of the highest-scoring teams in college football this season as they enter this game averaging 36.58 points per game which ranks 15^th in the nation and had one of the best passing offenses led by Drake Maye as they averaged 295.42 passing yards per game which ranked 10^th in college football while Maye finished the season completing 269 of 425 attempts for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for 449 yards and nine touchdowns, however, Maye will not play in this matchup as he has opted out to prepare for the 2024 NFL Draft. The North Carolina Tar Heels will look to end their two-game losing streak when they face the West Virginia Mountaineers.

 

The West Virginia Mountaineers finished in 4^th place in the Big 12 with a record of 8-4 while winning four of their last five games and are on a two-game winning streak including a 34-31 win on the road against the Baylor Bear in their season finale.

 

The Mountaineers were one of the higher scoring teams in the nation as they averaged 31.58 points per game while featuring one of the best rushing offenses in college football as they are averaging 234.33 rushing yards per game which ranks 3^rd in college football. Garrett Greene played a pivotal role in the success West Virginia had this season as he led the team in passing and was 3^rd on the team in rushing.

 

Greene enters this game having completed 135 of 254 attempts for 2,178 yards with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions while rushing for 708 yards and 13 touchdowns. The West Virginia Mountaineers will look to end the season on a three-game winning streak when they play the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday evening.

 

BookMaker has the West Virginia Mountaineers listed as 6.5-point favorites against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday evening. The teams are 1-1 all-time in the series while North Carolina has covered the spread in both meetings with the last matchup having occurred in the 2008 college football season and resulted in a 31-30 win for the West Virginia Mountaineers on the road. The North Carolina Tar Heels are 6-6 ATS overall and 0-1 ATS as an underdog this season while the West Virginia Mountaineers are 7-5 ATS overall and 4-3 ATS as a favorite.

 

The major difference in this game will be the North Carolina Tar Heels not having their quarterback, Drake Maye, who has been one of the best quarterbacks in school history and played a pivotal role in the success that the Tar Heels have had on offense the previous few seasons. Without Maye, I look for the Tar Heels to struggle offensively.

 

The entire game will be dictated about what will happen to UNC first round QB pick Drake Maye. But they also have a number of notable injuries while WVU QB is returning and has become a very good dual threat player this season.

 

Note: This is another game where Spooky played it at -3 but the line has gone up. Use caution here on the number. It has gone up to -7.