← Matchups

Miami

ACC · 2-0 (1-0 ACC) · power +29.0 · #8
Our numberMIA -20.5 no book has priced this game

North Carolina

ACC · 2-0 · power +13.1 · #65
Our side
MoneylineMIA to win ours 20%
Projected score 33–13 MIA – UNC
2026-10-31 · kickoff TBD Kenan Stadium · Chapel Hill, NC ACC game Early season

The books

No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.

Series North Carolina lead 16–11 · 27 meetings since 1946
2025 unit ranks — last completed season, from games actually played
Run game edge Miami Hurricanes 57 ranks
Miami Hurricanes #114 rush offense North Carolina Tar Heels #171 run defense
Pass game edge Miami Hurricanes 59 ranks
Miami Hurricanes #39 pass offense North Carolina Tar Heels #98 pass defense
Run game edge Miami Hurricanes 208 ranks
North Carolina Tar Heels #236 rush offense Miami Hurricanes #28 run defense
Pass game edge Miami Hurricanes 131 ranks
North Carolina Tar Heels #161 pass offense Miami Hurricanes #30 pass defense
Miami Hurricanes Balanced · 55% run Ball-control North Carolina Tar Heels Balanced · 53% run Ball-control
Mario Cristobal · 70-31 Bill Belichick · 4-8

Ranked by team-unit strength (rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265 D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the 2025 season.

The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above

Who carried each team in 2025
Miami Hurricanes
QB Darian Mensah 653 pass yds · 8 TD · 0 INT #3 QB
WR Malachi Toney 16 rec · 330 yds · 4 TD #8 WR
DL Marquise Lightfoot 11 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 1.0 TFL #264 DL
DL Armondo Blount 6 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 1.0 TFL #308 DL
North Carolina Tar Heels
DL Xavier Lewis 12 tkl · 4.0 sacks · 6.5 TFL #1 DL
DL Jaylen Harvey 8 tkl · 2.0 sacks · 2.0 TFL #59 DL
TE Jelani Thurman 8 rec · 165 yds · 1 TD #15 TE
DB Greg Smith 9 tkl · 1 PD · 1 INT #255 DB

Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no 2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.

Power breakdown
TeamPowerOffDefRank
Miami HurricanesACC +29.0 +16.2 +12.8 #8
North Carolina Tar HeelsACC +13.1 -1.9 +15.0 #65

Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).

Where the number comes from
Miami offense vs North Carolina defense+1.2 pts
North Carolina offense vs Miami defense-14.8 pts
Travel · context onlyAway team travels 691 mi

An efficiency adjustment from season-to-date EPA and success rate applies once teams have played enough games; before then it is 0 and the number is the power rating alone.

Situational spots are shown for context, not baked in: travel, altitude and rest were tested against 6,000+ games and the power and efficiency ratings already account for them. Adding them again would double-count.