CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) β North Carolina has spent the past two months building momentum and confidence in a climb to the top of its Atlantic Coast Conference division standings.
The No. 17 Tar Heels could soon have a ticket to the league championship game, too.
UNC faces Miami in its home finale Saturday in search of a ninth straight win. A win against the Hurricanes along with a Pittsburgh loss at Duke β a game that kicks off 3Β½ hours earlier β would send the Tar Heels (8-1, 5-0 ACC, No. 23 CFP) to the ACC title game to face top-ranked Clemson.
Don’t bother asking UNC coach Larry Fedora about keeping up with the Pitt-Duke result in the hours leading up to kickoff in Chapel Hill. He says he won’t do it.
“I know what we’re playing for,” Fedora said. “I mean, you’re not going to get me into that. We’re playing Miami, that’s it.”
The Tar Heels are the only unbeaten team in the Coastal Division standings, and hold head-to-head tiebreakers with Pitt (4-1) and Duke (3-2). Beating the Hurricanes (6-3, 3-2) would keep them in firm control of the division, regardless of what happens elsewhere.
As linebacker Shakeel Rashad put it: “We’re going to go out and try to win our game either way, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem with people focusing at all.”
The Hurricanes came into the season with the goal of winning the Coastal; the only way that quest stays alive is with a win on Saturday. Oddsmakers say they have very little shot, prompting quarterback Brad Kaaya to point out that the Hurricanes were in that exact position two weeks ago at Duke β where they won on an eight-lateral kickoff return for a final-play touchdown.
“So we’re like 11, 12-point underdogs,” Kaaya said. “I think we were like 13 or something against Duke. It is what it is.”
