It's game week for North Carolina and Bill Belichick! You'd think that there'd be a ton of hype surrounding the Tar Heels, as Belichick is getting ready to start his second year leading the program. Instead, off-field drama continues to be the focus of this circus, with Steve Belichick's status unknown, while your guess is as good as ours for what's going to happen with GM Michael Lombardi.
Despite that, TCU vs. Carolina is coming in Week 0, and with Billy Edwards Jr. named the starting quarterback, you'd think there'd be some excitement brewing leading up to kickoff. That's not quite the case, and the updated betting odds for this dance won't have people too thrilled. That's because as things stand, TCU is favored by 7.5 points for this one, making UNC a sizable underdog.
Bill Belichick: "We're focused on TCU."
— Greg Barnes (@GSBarnes23) August 24, 2026
North Carolina is expected to lose to TCU to open Bill Belichick's 2nd season
While TCU was not featured in the preseason Top 25, the Horned Frogs are on the outside looking in, receiving 11 votes. With some wins early on in the year, they should sneak into the rankings, but North Carolina of course doesn't want to be part of that process.
If anything, UNC wants to start the campaign off with a bang and prove the doubters wrong, but the spread is telling. There's just no buzz around this group, and with Belichick running the show, disappointing doesn't even begin to describe things.
Could it be the Edwards isn't quite a household name? The former Maryland starter transferred to Wisconsin last season, but a knee injury in Week 1 derailed what was supposed to be a memorable year for him in the Big Ten. Belichick decided to give him another shot, with Edwards being the go-to guy against TCU this weekend.
With Bobby Petrino taking over the offense, the doors could be open for some electric play to be featured. Still, we can't help but come back to the 7.5 points given to TCU, especially with Belichick entering such a pivotal season. His debut year in UNC was a joke, with the Tar Heels going 4-8, which no one expected.
We've been talking more about Belichick's relationship with Jordon Hudson than the positives on gamedays, which simply has to change moving forward. It can all get started with an upset win over TCU this weekend, but not even the biggest UNC homers are feeling optimistic about that going down.
It's on Belichick to change the narrative surrounding this program, but he's doing little thus far to make that happen. A loss in the season-opener will only have people further convinced that he should have never been hired in the first place too.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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