- TCU is a 9.0-point favorite against North Carolina in Week 0.
- Jaden Craig is the new QB for TCU.
- Billy Edwards Jr. is QB for North Carolina.
DUBLIN – College football is back, and gamelines are up for the entire Week 0 slate beginning with the opening game of the season between the North Carolina Tar Heels and TCU Horned Frogs across the pond in Dublin, Ireland.
With how things have unfolded for Bill Belichick in his first season for the Tar Heels and how the offseason has gone, it’s surprising that college football prop betting sites left points off the spread here sitting at just over a touchdown.
North Carolina Vs. TCU
- Moneyline: North Carolina (+270) vs. TCU (-340)
- Spread: TCU -9.0 (-110)
- Total: 47.0
Don’t Sleep On The Frogs
While there is concern regarding TCU’s QB situation, having lost Josh Hoover to Indiana and his 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns, they did a great job in replacing his efforts with Harvard transfer QB Jaden Craig. Craig is the all-time passing yard leader at Harvard and totaled 2,869 yards and 25 TDs last season.
The Frogs returned their second-leading receiver from last season, Jordan Dwyer, and RB1 Jeremy Payne. This is also an experienced defense that returns nearly every starter on the defensive line.
A Mess In Chapel Hill
Bill Belichick’s first season as the North Carolina head coach did not go as planned, having finished 4-8 and losing six of those games by 7+ points. They lost 38 players to the transfer portal and only brought in 18.
Among their portal losses was starting QB Gio Lopez, whom they replaced with either Miles O’Neill from Texas A&M or Billy Edwards Jr. from Wisconsin. O’Neill was a 3-Star prospect out of high school and played limited snaps in his first two seasons.
Edwards Jr. has had a rocky go-around with just 3,430 yards, 19 TDs, and 10 interceptions in four seasons. His only season as a starter came in 2024, when he went for 2,881 yards, 15 TDs, and nine interceptions.
North Carolina Vs. TCU Betting Pick
This is an easy lean on TCU to cover -7.5 on the spread. The two met in the season opener last season, where TCU blew them out 48-14. In TCU’s 9-4 season last year, including the bowl game win, they went 7-5-1 against the spread on Texas prop betting sites and won five of their games by more than a touchdown margin.
Expect Craig and the offense to pick up where Josh Hoover left off and get the job done convincingly.
