This is a 10* on NORTH CAROLINA

Mack Brown's has certainly made North Carolina better. But in order for this season to be considered a success, the Tar Heels need to get to a bowl. To do that, they'll need to win two of their next three games. Next week vs. Mercer is a lock. But they'll also need to win one of two road games, this week at Pitt or the regular season finale at NC State. North Carolina has beaten Pittsburgh six straight times. Yet they are the underdog Thursday night. With the game being at Heinz Field, that makes sense. But even when UNC was struggling the last couple years, they still managed to beat the Panthers. The Tar Heels were a combined 5-18 the last two years with just two ACC wins. Both were against Pitt. Brown brings a better team in this year, one that started its season with upsets over South Carolina and Miami FL. Since then, the Heels are just 2-5. But it's worth pointing out that all five losses were one-score games. Three of those losses were by a total of six points. Pitt won the ACC Coastal last year, but still lost seven games. At 6-3 this year, they're already assured of a bowl. Were they to win out, they'd have a shot at repeating as division champs. But they haven't won a game by more than 10 points all year and half of their wins have been by a field goal or less. Brown definitely wants that bowl bid his first year back in Chapel Hill. With the success North Carolina has had in the past vs. Pitt, we've gotta grab the points in this matchup. UNC is already 3-1 ATS as a dog this year. Honestly, they may be the better team here. A Pitt offense averaging just 20.9 points/game can't really be trusted as a favorite, can it? Play on NORTH CAROLINA

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