Are the Tar Heels underdogs or not?

Let’s see now, Carolina opens the season Saturday ranked No. 22 against No. 18 Georgia in the Georgia Dome. Check. The Tar Heels have not beaten a ranked SEC team in 21 years. Check. UNC is in the ACC and Georgia is in the SEC. Check. Check. Checkmate. Right?

Then why has the pendulum swung toward an upset in the last few days with gurus like Kirk Herbstreit picking the Tar Heels to beat the Bulldogs, who are slightly favored by Vegas odds makers?

Perhaps they know something the others don’t, like Georgia will start a senior quarterback who led the team to a 10-2 record last year, while Dawg fans would rather see the highly recruited freshman sling the ball around. Maybe they think old Kirby won’t be so Smart in his first game as a head coach back at his alma mater; lot of pressure for the former Alabama defensive coordinator. And maybe they know that super star running back Nick Chubb has got to be at least a little rusty after having not played in almost a year following a serious knee injury in his fifth game last season.

Could they know that Carolina is pretty darn good in Larry Fedora’s fifth season here – that last year’s 11-3 record wasn’t a fluke and that Mitch Trubisky has been patiently biding his time for three years in Chapel Hill? And while Carolina finished 13th in the ACC in rushing defense last year and gave up an interstate of yardage in its last two games, losses to Clemson and Baylor in the post-season, that Gene Chizik’s defense doesn’t have to be great, just good, because the Tar Heels can score so many dad-gum points behind Trubisky’s arm and Elijah Hood’s legs.

Clearly, this is the time to get Georgia on the schedule. First game for Smart, first game back for Chubb, and a quarterback controversy before the first snap. Why else would the ACC get the nod to roll over the SEC in not only this game, but Clemson over Auburn and No. 11 FSU over 11th ranked Ole Miss Monday night? Maybe they know something we don’t. Or they watched how bad Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt looked last night.

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