The current landscape of college football has made it incredibly difficult to predict.
Keeping up with the transfer portal and realignment is tough enough, but the coaching carousel is also out of control.
You would have sounded crazy three years ago if you predicted that Bill Belichick would end up coaching a college team.
Still, with the way things are now, it almost feels natural that the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach is under a headset at the University of North Carolina.
Belichick will make his collegiate coaching debut on Monday night against TCU at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill.
The Horned Frogs are a 3.5-point favorite on the road, which tells you how the betting market perceives this new era at UNC.
And while it’s become in vogue to cast doubt that Belichick will work at North Carolina (for on-field and off-field reasons), you do have to wonder if things have gone a little too far.
North Carolina looked like it needed a refresh after a 6-7 season under Mack Brown in 2024, and that’s exactly what is happening.
Not only is Belichick coming in with a completely new staff, the Tar Heels will have plenty of new faces on the roster, including starting quarterback Gio Lopez.
In a lot of ways, Lopez and Belichick are a terrific match.
While nobody has any idea how Belichick will fare at this level, the same can be said for his quarterback, who transferred into UNC in the spring after an impressive spell at South Alabama.
Lopez is not a household name, but he has the skill set to become one if this experiment goes well.
The Alabama native was superb with the Jaguars in 2024, throwing for 2,559 yards and adding 547 more on the ground (adjusted for sacks).
Lopez accounted for 25 touchdowns (18 passing, seven rushing) for South Alabama in his freshman campaign.
It’s a big leap from the Sun Belt to the ACC, but there is a lot to like here.
Lopez and Belichick will face a stiff test right out of the gates, as TCU is coming off an impressive — and surprising — season.
The Horned Frogs were expected to be in transition in 2024, but they proved that projection wrong with a 9-4 record and an impressive statistical profile.
TCU ranked 25th in SP+ (Bill Connelly’s catch-all statistical metric), led by an offense that caught fire with Josh Hoover under center.
Betting on College Football?
Hoover was solid as a freshman in 2023, but he took things up several notches in 2024 with 3,949 yards and 27 touchdowns, while completing 67 percent of his passes.
With an experienced offensive line in front of him, Hoover should be set up for another big year, and he could get off and running against UNC, which is completely resetting on defense.
Belichick’s teams were almost always defensive juggernauts during his historic tenure in Foxborough, Mass., but getting this unit up to speed quickly could be a challenging task for the future Hall of Fame coach and his son, Steve, who is the defensive coordinator in Chapel Hill.
You can give Belichick, Belichick and Co. the benefit of the doubt and believe that UNC’s defense will turn into a strength eventually, but it’s a bit dubious to project them to step onto the field and slow down Hoover and the Horned Frogs in Week 1.
We already know TCU’s offense has the potential to be a beast, but Lopez and the Tar Heels could be flying under the radar here.
This one has all the right ingredients for a play on the Over 55.5, which is sure to drive the ol’ ball coach nuts.
The Play: Over 55.5 (bet365)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
Credit: Source link
