NCAA Football Meineke Car Care Bowl North Carolina vs West Virginia
This year’s Meineke Car Care Bowl features an interesting sports betting match-up between two teams expected to challenge for their conference championships this year in the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) and the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4 SU, 4-7 ATS). North Carolina saw its chances for a conference championship dim quickly after losing starting QB T.J. Yates in the third game of the season in a 20-17 NCAA wagering loss to Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers were in the hunt for the Big East title until they suffered an overtime home loss to Cincinnati and then lost at Pitt a couple weeks later to knock them out of the Big East running.
In his second year at the helm of the Tar Heels, head coach Butch Davis is well on his way to turning around a program crippled by former head coach John Bunting. In North Carolina’s last game, a 28-20 college football gambling win against the rival Duke Blue Devils, Davis watched as QB T.J. Yates put up his best game since he was injured against the Hokies; completing 15 of 19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
Yates’ injury was not the only one that hurt Tar Heels bettors this season. After just five games, star WR Brandon Tate was lost for the season with a knee injury dealing the WR corps a big blow. His loss was only offset by the emergence of WR Hakeem Nicks, whose 60 catches for 1005 yards and nine touchdowns on the year were all team-highs.
All-everything QB Pat White is entering his last game as a Mountaineer and will go down as one of the best football players in West Virginia’s history. Over the years, West Virginia bettors have watched White fluster his opponents with both his legs and arm, traits which propelled West Virginia to a 48-28 NCAA wagering win in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma last season. This season, however, White hasn’t been as productive and the West Virginia offense has suffered because of it.
Aside from White, the main producer for the Mountaineer offense has been super sophomore RB Noel Devine, who rushed for 1228 yards on 193 carries this year. His 6.4 YPC average was one of the best marks in the nation. The backfield combo of Devine and White has been a large part of why four of the Mountaineers last six games have gone over the betting ‘total’ per the closing college football gambling odds.
CFB betting trends that college football bettors should know before wagering on this game are: West Virginia is 3-10 ATS in its L/13 games against ACC opponents, the Tar Heels are 11-3 in their L/14 games as an underdog, and the ‘over’ is 7-2 in the Tar Heels L/9 games against Big East opponents.
NCAA odds have the Mountaineers entrenched as a 1.5 point favorite in this game with a ‘total’ of 45.5 points.
Will the Mountaineers extend their three-game bowl winning streak, or will head coach Butch Davis pick up his first post-season victory as the ‘ol ball coach in Chapel Hill?
You can wager on this game at BetUS Sportsbook, the only place for your online sports betting needs during the bowl season.
