Pittsburgh Opens as Only Four-Point Favorites vs. UNC

It’s crazy to think that the No. 25 Pittsburgh Panthers are a perfect 5-0 (2-0) but are only four-point favorites against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

DraftKings provided the odds for the Week 6 matchup, one that is featuring a vulnerable Tar Heels squad that has dropped back-to-back games.

Advertisement

Pittsburgh’s narrow victory last Friday, Oct. 2, may have influenced the spread as the Panthers only survived Virginia Tech due to a missed field goal as time expired.

That said, the Panthers are the home team in this one, so that right there gives them an immediate advantage, mixed in with the fact that UNC is only 2-2 and 0-1 in conference play.

Officially, Pitt opened as 4.5-point favorites, though the spread quickly fell to four-points. That gives them just over a field-goal advantage, and that’s extremely interesting looking at how their first five games went.

Advertisement

Pitt has scored 27+ points in their two ACC matchups, and they put up 59 on a pair of non-conference opponents in Week 1 and Week 4.

The Panthers narrowly defeated UCF, 12-7, in a Week 2 showdown that proved this team is able to win in more ways than one.

Now, they draw a UNC program that is treading water with Bill Belichick at the helm.

UNC hasn’t lost a game by more than 11 points this season, so that certainly counts for something, especially since that 37-26 loss was against No. 3 Notre Dame.

Remember, the Tar Heels were dominating Clemson on the road prior to a weather delay that led to them losing, 28-20.

Advertisement

The weather delay can’t be used as an excuse, far from it, but it marked a huge turning point in UNC’s conference opener.

Despite only being four-point underdogs according to ESPN’s partner, ESPN Analytics gives Pittsburgh a 74.5% chance to win this game.

That means UNC is only given a 25.5% chance to pull off the upset, and that’s incredibly alarming, to say the least.

Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. has done a fine job this season, but this offense still feels like it’s missing…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/pittsburgh-opens-only-four-point-110011434.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-07 11:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.