College Football Odds: North Carolina Duke prediction, odds, pick

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils meet in a game which is surprisingly important. The game is for the ACC Coastal Division championship. North Carolinians are the clear-cut Coastal favorite at the midpoint of the season. If Carolina wins the game, they will be the undisputed leader in the division. The team that won the Coastal last season crashed and burned and didn't make a bowl game. They lost to South Carolina. Carolina won against Virginia Tech and Miami. Miami, Pittsburgh, and Virginia are struggling. UNC won over Miami and has beaten both Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Drake Maye is the best quarterback in this game. Duke does not have the firepower to keep up with North Carolina. North Carolinians might be able to score more than 30 points and cover the spread.

Mike Elko was formerly the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest and Notre Dame. He has a lot of familiarity with ACC teams and ACC defenses. Duke's defense could create the ugly game it needs to produce in order to win.

Duke and Elko will find the right scheme and the the correct plan on defense to keep this game close and keep North Carolina at bay.

Duke is favored to beat North Carolina.