North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Miami Hurricanes Prediction & Game Preview - 1/18/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Watsco Center, Miami, FL

Where to watch: ACCN

DraftKings: NL

BetMGM: NL

Caesars: NL

North Carolina: 12-4 (4-1 ACC)

Miami: 13-4 (5-1 ACC)

Despite coming off a loss in their most recent game after a hot stretch of impressive wins, I like the Miami Hurricanes in their home matchup against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday.

It’s been a while since we’ve incorporated the Hurricanes in talks as a top team in the ACC, but after a nine-game winning streak that was snapped by the Florida State Seminoles last Tuesday, we may need to bring back the talk of Miami in the echelon of the conference with five wins in their first six ACC games.

Miami scored more than 80 points five times during its winning streak and was held to just 64 in the one-point loss to Florida State. Charlie Moore led the Hurricanes with 20 points as Miami also covered for the fourth time in five games.

The Hurricanes were 6.5-point dogs at Florida State, seemingly not good enough to be a bit closer after upsetting Duke on Jan. 8 as 15-point dogs. Miami has actually been the underdog in three of its past five games and open up in some books as 2.5-point dogs to the Tar Heels.

Miami has been a darling on the books in recent memory. The Canes are 10-3 against the spread in their last 13 as a home dog of six points or less and are 27-22 against the spread in their last 49 conference games. Considering North Carolina has won five straight in the series, the Hurricanes want to keep this rolling all while trying to win against the Tar Heels for the first time since Feb. 27, 2018 in Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels have won four of five and have also covered in those four of five, including a 23-point win at home against Georgia Tech on Saturday in which UNC was 12-point favorites. North Carolina has actually been favored in four of the past five, but is 2-9 ATS in its last 11 as a road favorite or a pick. That seems a bit weird.

The Miami fans will be glad to have their team back for this game and I can see this just being a consistent wire-to-wire win for the Hurricanes. North Carolina is only 1-5 against the spread this season when scoring 80 points or more the previous game. This seems like a doomsday combination for UNC. Miami by 14

The over is 4-0 in North Carolina's last four games following a straight-up win.

Miami is 8-1 ATS in their last nine at home against teams with a winning road record.

The under is 6-1 in North Carolina's last seven Tuesday games.

PG: R.J. Davis

SG: Caleb Love
SF: Leaky Black
PF: Brady Manek
C: Armando Bacot

PG: Charlie Moore

SG: Isaiah Wong
SF: Kameron McGusty
PF: Jordan Miller
C: Deng Gak