The No. 14 North Carolina Tar Heels will square off with the Villanova Wildcats on Thanksgiving Day in the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals at Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas. After trailing at halftime, the Tar Heels used a second-half surge to defeat Northern Iowa 91-69 on Wednesday while the Wildcats cruised past Texas Tech 85-69 in their opening-round matchup. North Carolina is now a perfect 4-0 on the season while Villanova is 4-1.
The last time these two programs met was in the 2016 NCAA Tournament championship, which Villanova won 77-74. However, Jay Wright has retired and Villanova is coming off a 17-17 season under Kyle Neptune, so the Tar Heels are favored by 2.5 points in the latest North Carolina vs. Villanova odds, and the over/under is 146.5 points. Before entering any Villanova vs. North Carolina picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 3 of the 2023-24 season on an 88-57 roll on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to last season, returning more than $1,700 for $100 players. Anyone who followed it saw huge returns.
The model has set its sights on UNC vs. Villanova. You can head to SportsLine to see its college basketball picks. Here are several college basketball odds and betting lines for Villanova vs. UNC:
- North Carolina vs. Villanova spread: UNC -2.5
- North Carolina vs. Villanova over/under: 146.5 points
- North Carolina vs. Villanova money line: UNC -141, Villanova +120
- North Carolina vs. Villanova picks: See picks here
What you need to know about North Carolina
After making it to the national championship game in Hubert Davis' first season as the head coach, UNC missed the NCAA Tournament entirely last season. However, it rattled off four wins in a row to start the 2023-24 season and will be looking for its first serious resume win of the season on Thursday afternoon.
The Tar Heels had six players reach double-figures in scoring against Northern Iowa on Tuesday and went 12-for-26 from the 3-point line as a team. Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram led the way for North Carolina with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Armando Bacot had 10 points and eight rebounds in the victory but is averaging 19.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game for the season. See which team to pick here.
What you need to know about Villanova
The Wildcats were also in the Final Four two seasons ago but the program struggled during the transition from Wright to Neptune. However, this season it responded after a loss to Penn with wins over Maryland and Texas Tech in its last two games.
Eric Dixon led all scorers with 19 points in Wednesday's win over the Red Raiders, and he also had six rebounds and three steals. Justin Moore also stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Moore is averaging 16.4 points per game in his fifth season at Villanova and is currently 32nd on the all-time scoring list but could surge towards the top 10 if he stays healthy. See which team to pick here.
How to make North Carolina vs. Villanova picks
The model has simulated North Carolina vs. Villanova 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Under and it's also generated a point-spread pick that hits nearly 60% of the time. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Villanova vs. UNC, and which side of the spread hits nearly 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out, all from the model's on an 88-57 roll on top-rated college basketball picks, and find out.
