Can Carolina Football Get Past a Summer of Distraction? Preview and Prediction.

Football season is getting warmed up. Last time, we previewed the Carolina Panthers. The team is clearly in a rebuild mode, although not admitting that. Their QB is a question mark and even if Brett Favre was playing for the ‘Cats, who would he pass to? Even the RB position is not as solid as it has been the past several years. And we wont even talk about defense. We are still going with a 6-10 season – and that may be generous.

In college football, North Carolina football has had most of the attention this offseason. The NCAA is probing the school because a couple kids hit a party in Miami and it appears they didnt pay their own way. While I only expect a hand slap and not major sanctions, its been a distraction since mid-July.
They say offense wins games and defense wins championships. Carolina returns a bunch of seniors – 7 on both defense and offense. And they come into the season ranked #18 in both the AP and USA Today polls. In my opinion, they have a decent team that may end up towards the top of the ACC, as predicted. But they are unlikely to beat out Miami or Virginia Tech which are the favorites heading into the season. College Football Futures show Carolina at +500 to winthe ACC and +6000 for a National Championship. While 6 returning starters on defense were all conference selections last year, only the kicker, Casey Barth, made that honor on offense.
The defense is solid – and has to carry the team. I’m not a fan of TJ Yates, QB. I expect him to be replaced by week 4 in favor of Paulus. He has an NFL quality WR in Greg Little, but an inconsistent running game to stretch the defense. In football, without a top quarterback, you are unlikely to go far.
We’ll see how good the Tarheels are. On Sept 4, their opening game is against #21 LSU in a neutral site game (Atlanta, GA). Then they open their ACC schedule against #16 Georgia Tech in a home game. The schedule gets easier until Nov 6 and 14 when they have to play Forida State and Virginia Tech back-to-back.

My prediction: 8-4. Disappointing for the team, but good enough for the Champs Sports bowl – the 3rd tier bowl (behind Orange and Chick-Fil-A – the Gator bowl is no long an ACC/Big East destination)

about MaTT:
MaTT has been in the sports wagering biz for 10+ years as an affiliate offering a sports betting blog and tips to people around the world. Living in North Carolina, he is happy to contribute to the Carolina Gambler on a regular basis.

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