No. 5 Texas A&M (8-1) was hoping to participate in the College Football Playoff but the Aggies will instead close out their season on Saturday night against No. 13 North Carolina (8-3, 7-3 ACC) in the Capital One Orange Bowl. While a number of teams that have finished just outside the playoff semifinals in years past have mailed it in for their bowls, that is not the case at all with the Maroon and White.
Texas A&M took the omission personally and, instead of seeing a number of players opt out, the Aggies have become incredibly motivated. In fact, A&M is one of the few non-playoff teams to have zero players opt out of participating in the bowl.
When the matchup was announced two weeks ago, the opening line originally had the Aggies favored by five points. It quickly went up to seven points but remained there for quite some time. Now that it is the day of the game, though, a lot more money is starting to come in on the contest. And, not surprisingly, the line is going up even father in Texas A&M's favor.
At Noon Central on Saturday, seven hours until kickoff, the line has move to the Aggies being favored by nine, according to William Hill, with a couple sportsbooks having it as high as 9.5. It should go up even higher closer to game time.
North Carolina had a strong season, not including a bad loss to Florida State, and is coming off a drubbing of a then-top-10 Miami team. The Tar Heels also have one of the nation's top offenses as they are No. 4 overall and No. 10 in rushing. However, team took major blows with opt-outs.
North Carolina has a pair of 1,000-yard rushers this season in senior Michael Carter and junior Javonte Williams. Carter ran for 1,245 yards and nine touchdowns while Williams added 1,140 yards and 19 scores on the ground. Both have opted out and will not play in the game. That leaves quarterback Sam Howell as the team's leading rusher with 121 yards. Next on the list is true freshman D.J. Jones with 65 yards on 11 carries.
Howell has had a strong year passing as the sophomore has thrown for 3,352 yards and 27 touchdowns with only six interceptions. However, his top target has also opted out. Junior wide receiver Dyami Brown had 55 receptions for 1,099 yards and eight touchdowns. He, too, has chosen to prepare for the NFL Draft instead of playing in the bowl game, though. Senior Dazz Newsome will still be playing and the 5-foot-11, 190-pound wideout has 48 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns on the season.
On defense, North Carolina has also seen All-American linebacker Chazz Surratt opt out of the game. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior is by far the team's leading tackler with 91 stops and is also tied for the team lead with six sacks.
Nothing is a given in bowl games, which tend to have crazy outcomes at times, but gamblers appear to be noticing that Texas A&M is much closer to full-strength than North Carolina. The game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN.
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January 03, 2021 at 01:06AM
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On day of game, A&M becomes bigger favorite vs North Carolina - 247Sports
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