Wednesday when North Carolina and Oregon square off in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego it will be the highest projected scoring total of bowl season with an O/U of 75.5. Ducks QB Bo Nix was a Heisman contender for a large part of the season while North Carolina signal caller Drake Maye could be the favorite heading into 2023 so we shall see if this game lives up to the hype.
Before Betting on the Holiday Bowl
Oregon’s 49-3 loss to Georgia in the season opener was disappointing, but it wasn’t necessarily unexpected as the Bulldogs are the #1 team in the nation. After that defeat the Ducks rattled off eight straight wins and got up to #6 in the country before running into Washington’s high powered passing attack and 37-34. OU also fell 38-34 to rival Oregon State in the season finale so they are limping into the postseason having lost two of their last three.
Nix was great for the Ducks this year completing 71.7% of his passes with 3,389 yards and 27 TDs – all career bests after three seasons at Auburn. Nix has announced his plans to return to Eugene in 2023 so he’ll be the face of the program which starts with snapping a 2-game bowl losing streak on Wednesday night.
North Carolina QB Maye was reportedly being lured away from Chapel Hill with NIL deals upwards of $5 million, but he’s staying with the Tar Heels moving forward (so far.) Maye had a phenomenal redshirt freshman season, ranking 4th in the nation with 4,115 passing yards to go along with 35 TDs to just 7 INTs.
North Carolina vs Oregon NCAAF Offshore Betting Odds
| Offshore Sportsbook | Moneyline | Total | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | UNC (4.95) | Oregon (1.20) | 75.5 | UNC +13 (1.93) | Oregon -13 (1.88) |
| Bovada | UNC (4.90) | Oregon (1.18) | 75.5 | UNC +13 (1.91) | Oregon -13 (1.91) |
| BetUS | UNC (4.85) | Oregon (1.20) | 75.5 | UNC +13 (1.93) | Oregon -13 (1.88) |
| SportsBetting.ag | UNC (4.95) | Oregon (1.20) | 75.5 | UNC +13 (1.93) | Oregon -13 (1.88) |
| Pinnacle | UNC (4.88) | Oregon (1.20) | 75.5 | UNC +13 (1.95) | Oregon -13 (1.93) |
| MyBookie | UNC (4.90) | Oregon (1.18) | 75.5 | UNC +13.5 (1.91) | Oregon -13 (1.91) |
Holiday Bowl Prediction & Pick
Maye and Nix are going to put up their numbers on Wednesday, but one of the more underrated aspects of this game is the Oregon rush offense with Mar’Kiese Irving and Noah Whittington combining for over 1,600 yards and Nix scoring 14 times on the ground. When you can eat up clock that way and keep the UNC offense off the field that is going to keep this game under that whopping total.
Pick: Under 75.5
