Year Six of Mack Brown’s second stint in Chapel Hill is just over a month away, with the North Carolina Tar Heels looking to take the next step in their program-wide evolution after winning eight or more games in each of the last two years.
Fresh off an 8-5 campaign that saw UNC fall to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Brown and company are back and looking for that elusive first ACC title since 1980 this fall.
That quest kicks off in earnest on Aug. 29, when UNC plays the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the road, before hosting Charlotte, North Carolina Central and James Madison in succession to close out non-conference play.
Brown’s bunch enters the year with a preseason win total over/under on DraftKings Sportsbook North Carolina of 7.5, with the school’s +3000 ACC championship odds ranking eighth in the expanded ACC.
All season long, BetCarolina.com will keep you updated on the Tar Heels’ bowl game odds. These odds will correspond with where we see the Tar Heels playing this bowl season. Here’s where we see UNC going right now.
UNC Football Bowl Projections: Odds For Tar Heels’ 2024-25 Bowl Game
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | El Paso, TX | vs. TBD (used to be Pac-12) | +300 | 25.0% |
Pinstripe Bowl | New York, NY | vs. Big Ten | +400 | 20.0% |
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Jacksonville, FL | vs. SEC | +450 | 18.2% |
Pop-Tarts Bowl | Orlando, FL | vs. Big 12 | +800 | 11.1% |
Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Boston, MA | vs. American Athletic | +800 | 11.1% |
The Field / No Bowl |
|
| +700 | 12.5% |
These odds are exclusive to BetCarolina.com and may not be available on NC sports betting apps.
Since Brown’s return to Chapel Hill in 2019, UNC has played in Annapolis, Miami, Charlotte and San Diego, but UNC has yet to experience the natural wonder of West Texas of late.
We see that changing this fall, with El Paso’s Tony the Tiger Bowl being our top bowl game for UNC in 2024, at +300, ranking ahead of New York’s Pinstripe Bowl (+400), Jacksonville’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (+450), Orlando’s Pop-Tarts Bowl and Boston’s Wasabi Fenway Bowl (+800 each).
The last time UNC played in El Paso was under head coach Larry Fedora in 2016, when they lost to No. 16 Stanford, 25-23, capping off an 8-5 campaign. The Tar Heels' last trip to the Gator Bowl was in 1997 (when they beat Virginia Tech, 42-3, in Brown’s last season before heading to Texas).
North Carolina played in the then-Russell Athletic Bowl in 2015, losing to Baylor, 49-38, while the school has never played in the Pinstripe or Wasabi Fenway bowls.
UNC Bowl Game History
Year | Bowl | Result |
|---|---|---|
2023 | Duke’s Mayo Bowl | Loss, 30-10 vs. West Virginia |
2022 | Holiday Bowl | Loss, 28-27 vs. Oregon |
2021 | Duke’s Mayo Bowl | Loss, 38-21 vs. South Carolina |
2020 | Orange Bowl | Loss, 41-27 vs. Texas A&M |
2019 | Military Bowl | Win, 55-13 vs. Temple |
Over the last half-decade, UNC has played in a bowl game each season but has posted a 1-4 mark in those contests, with the last victory for the program coming in the 2019 Military Bowl over Temple.
That game saw the Tar Heels shellack the overmatched Owls, 55-13. The past four bowl game trips have been forgettable for UNC, with losses to Texas A&M in the 2020 Orange Bowl (41-27), South Carolina and West Virginia in the 2021 and 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Oregon in the 2022 Holiday Bowl.
This fall, Brown and company will look to snap that four-game bowl-game losing streak, regardless of where the Tar Heels are sent when the postseason begins in mid-December.
Stay with BetCarolina.com as we continue to update these odds and be sure to check out our best North Carolina sportsbook promos to help you on your next wager.
UNC Football Bowl Q/As:
For the upcoming 2024-25 college football season, UNC is currently projected to play in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX vs. a TBD team with the odds at +300 (25.0% chance).
Since it is the summer, UNC is not currently playing in a bowl game because the season has not yet begun. Their most recent bowl game was in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss against West Virginia.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
