VS.

Perhaps no team took as much of a costly tumble toward the end of the season as Pittsburgh, which was one defensive stand away from claiming the Big East’s spot in the BCS. No.17 Pittsburgh Panthers finished their season with an overall record of 9-3 while North Carolina Tar Heels finished their season with an overall record of 8-4.

4:30 PM ET, December 26, 2009
Bank of America , CHARLOTTE, NC
ESPN

No.17 Pittsburgh Panthers will try to win this game to accomplished a 10 game winner season since the days of Dan Marino. Pitt was the favorite to win the Big East at the preseason but it seems like something went wrong and now they are just 2nd place right behind Cincinnati. With players like QB Bill Stull, RB Dion Lewis (elected Offensive player of the year on the Big East), RB Ray Graham, WR Jonathan Baldwin and TE Dorin Dickerson it will be awfully hard for Pitt to lose this one. Pitt averages 33.2 points per game and only allows 20 so the difference is huge, might be a little hard to stop a player li Lewis by grown and the defense is just very tight right now, it could be the real threat for UNC, a defensive libe that will not allow them to score more than 2 times in the whole game.

North Carolina Tar Heels have a top 10 defense and it will be a tough task for Pitt to penetrate that defensive line. The Tar Heels rank sixth nationally in total defense (267.8 yards per game), including ninth against the run and 15th through the air.North Carolina leads the all-time series 4-2, winning 20-17 at Chapel Hill in 2000 in the most recent meeting and that is in their minds. Players like QB T.J. Yates, RB Ryan Houston, RB Shaun Draughn, RB Greg Little and WR Erik Highsmith are part of the offense that will take the field near home but that will not cause great impact. The biggest challenge will be Pitt’s offense against UNC’s defense and their ability to hold Pitt’s running threat, the only card UNC is holding is their great defensive line.

GAME ODDS

PITTSBURGH -2½
NORTH CAROLINA 44½

CLASSIC CHALLENGE BETWEEN A VERY GOOD OFFENSIVE LINE AND ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSIVE LINES IN THE NATION. BOTH TEAMS ARE PRETTY WELL BALANCED AND THIS COULD BE A DUEL BETWEEN QB’S AND THEIR ABILITY TO SCORE AT LEAST A COUPLE OF TIMES. MY PICK WILL BE NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS +2½.

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