North Carolina
Friday Pick-Six: Week 7 best bets for Miami at North Carolina, Texas A&M at Tennessee, Oregon at Washington
Welcome to The Friday Pick-Six, a weekly column here during the 2023 season where I’ll pick five games against the spread each week, plus my Upset Du Jour.
We’ll track the bets, and y’all can decide to fade or tail (for entertainment purposes only!)
Tough Week 6. I got Major Burn’d by the LSU safeties pick-six for backdoor cover against Missouri. I also whiffed on Notre Dame going to Louisville winning, and Texas took a tough one losing to archrival Oklahoma in Red River. I did nail UCLA covering against Washington State, Ohio State over Maryland and Iowa State as my Upset Du Jour of the week — two straight there at least!
Overall, I stand at 16-12-2, and 4-2 on my upset specials. This week’s slate is loaded with some major matchups with major stakes.
Let’s make some picks. (All point spreads come from FanDuel).
Every college football reporter — myself included — has spent the week deservedly dunking on Mario Cristobal for his galactic buffoonery of BIG DUMB FOOTBALL MAN refusing to kneel out the clock.
And yet, the Hurricanes’ embarrassing loss to Georgia Tech had zero impact on the spread against an undefeated Tar Heels team this week. Drake Maye got cooking against Syracuse but this will be the toughest defense he’s seen all season.
I expect a bounce-back performance from Tyler Van Dyke (three picks versus the Yellow Jackets) and a spirited performance from an angry Hurricanes team. I don’t know that it will be enough for an outright upset win — UNC has won four straight versus the Canes — but they stay within the number.
The Pick: Miami +3.5
The Aggies are coming off last weekend’s loss to Alabama, where Jimbo Fisher conservatively coached not-to-lose big and cost his team a real chance at a marquee win. Now they must go on the road to a well-rested, healthier Tennessee team coming off a bye week.
This is a strength-on-strength matchup here, with the SEC’s best run defense against the SEC’s top rushing offense. Regardless of the Aggies’ saltiness up front, the Vols are going to lean on their ground, but Joe Milton will still have his chances for shot plays against a leaky TAMU secondary. My other question: Can the Aggies block the Vols in obvious passing downs? Tennessee is No. 3 in the SEC in sacks, No. 3 in TFLs.
The Aggies struggled in a much less hostile road environment at Miami earlier this season, and now they’re playing with a downgrade at QB. Give me the Vols.
PICK: Tennessee -3
The Orange are coming off a bad loss against North Carolina and now must take a second straight road trip to a Florida State squad hungry to put up a big number after a couple of meh showings the last few weeks.
Syracuse is down several key starters, and head coach Dino Babers went on a diatribe earlier this week about a lack of depth thanks to losses to the transfer portal.
The Seminoles ground game got going last weekend (Trey Benson had 200 yards on 11 carries), and I expect FSU to keep the offense humming this weekend and cover a big number.
PICK: Florida State -17.5
The Cowboys stunned Texas Tech, pushed Texas for 3.5 quarters and just upset Top 25 Fresno State last weekend, and yet they’re double-digit ‘dogs to Air Force?
Yup, because the Falcons are quietly the best team in the Mountain West with one of the most efficient offenses in the nation. Air Force is also a Top 10 defense, allowing just 4.3 yards per play.
The Falcons hammered San Jose State and San Diego State in back-to-back games before getting an extra week to prepare for Wyoming.
PICK: Air Force -10
The Horned Frogs have lost two straight — including getting bullied on the road at Iowa State last weekend — are down their starting quarterback Chandler Morris, and are favored by nearly a touchdown?
Color me confused.
The Cougars have had extra time to prepare for TCU, and while their offense has struggled to match points against Big 12 foes, their defense has proven to be good enough to keep them in games. I don’t know that Kalani Sitake is going to go win outright at TCU, but they could.
PICK: BYU +6
Upset Du Jour
I’ve been backing Dan Lanning and the Ducks since the preseason, so why stop now?
I know all the Bo Nix road splits (20 of his 24 career INTs away from home), but most of that voodoo was when he was an Auburn Tiger. The more important Ducks on Saturday will be their OL and tailback Bucky Irving, who could provide real problems for a Huskies defense that’s been just so-so stopping the run.
Washington’s prolific offense is absolutely capable of hanging a big number, especially with all three wideouts back, but Oregon is the more complete, balanced team.
PICK: Oregon
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — The North Carolina Zoo is celebrating 50 years.
Located in Asheboro, the zoo houses about 1,700 animals and over 250 species primarily from Africa and North America.
On social media, NC Zoo wrote Friday:
“Throughout our history, we’ve been home to a diverse array of remarkable animals, dedicated keepers, and passionate employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Join us in honoring this milestone by visiting the Zoo in 2024!”
The Zoo also mentioned the Zoo’s first animals, which were two Galapagos tortoises named Tort and Retort.
The post said in part: “These two tortoises symbolize the early days of the North Carolina Zoo and are cherished deeply in our hearts.”
The North Carolina Zoo is one of two state-supported zoos in the country. The other is the Minnesota Zoo.
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
North Carolina
NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank
With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region.
MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.
A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous.
More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?
North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous
According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are:
- Louisiana – 7.55/10
- California – 7.21/10
- New Mexico – 6.74/10
- Hawaii – 6.73/10
- Delaware – 6.67/10
- New Jersey – 6.53/10
- Mississippi – 6.47/10
- North Carolina – 6.39/10
- Massachusetts – 6.33/10
- Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10
According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.
For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.
The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.
More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?
Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked.
Brunswick County
Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
New Hanover County
Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
Pender County
Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.
Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.
Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.
As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.
Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.
Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.
Postgame Takeaways: Cincinnati Reds Lose Series, Fall to San Francisco Giants 8-2
Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Tua, Chop, Jaelan, and More
Cowboys offseason countdown: 99 facts until the regular season (Day 35)
Boston College Running Back Kye Robichaux Says Room Will ‘Shock A Lot of People This Year’
Police recruit who lost both legs in ‘barbaric hazing ritual’ sues Denver, paramedics and officers
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Barack Obama's political career kicked off in the Illinois State Senate, evolved into a two-term presidency
Hamas begins consultations to choose Ismail Haniyeh’s successor
US moves in Middle East are defensive, aimed at reducing tensions -White House
Georgia activist steals the show after being introduced by Trump at Atlanta rally: 'Incredible'
Several police officers injured in protests across the UK
-
Mississippi5 days agoMSU, Mississippi Academy of Sciences host summer symposium, USDA’s Tucker honored with Presidential Award
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans say Schumer must act on voter proof of citizenship bill if Democrat 'really cares about democracy'
-
Politics1 week agoTrump announces to crowd he 'just took off the last bandage' at faith event after assassination attempt
-
World7 days ago
More right wing with fewer women – a new Parliament compendium
-
World1 week agoIsrael says Hezbollah crossed ‘red line’, strikes deep inside Lebanon
-
Politics1 week agoHarris failed to combat ‘root causes’ of illegal immigration, former Border Patrol union chief says
-
News1 week agoVideo: Kamala Harris May Bring Out Trump’s Harshest Instincts
-
World1 week agoItaly's Via Appia enters the Unesco World Heritage List