3 out of 5 College Gameday pickers take Gophers to beat North Carolina

The Gophers are 2.5-point home favorites over the Tar Heels for the season opener.

Nov 12, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck leads his team out onto the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Huntington Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN's iconic College Gameday show returned to the air on Saturday, broadcasting from Dublin, Ireland ahead of Georgia Tech's upset victory over No. 10 Florida State.

With College Gameday comes picks for all of the big games that lie ahead. And three of the five prognosticators on set took the Gophers to beat North Carolina in Thursday night's season opener at Huntington Bank Stadium. Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard, and guest picker Sheamus (an Irish WWE wrestler) went with Minnesota. Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit took the Tar Heels.

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— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) August 24, 2024

Heading into Thursday's big game, the Gophers are currently 2.5-point home favorites. That tells you Vegas expects a tight game between two teams who we don't know much about this year.

P.J. Fleck and the Gophers are coming off a 6-7 season and are breaking in new quarterback Max Brosmer, a transfer from FCS New Hampshire. If RB Darius Taylor and WR Daniel Jackson are healthy, Brosmer will have two star playmakers at his disposal. His left tackle, Aireontae Ersery, could be a first-round pick next spring. On defense, the Gophers lost Tyler Nubin and have a new coordinator in Corey Hetherman, whose unit will be led by players like Jah Joyner, Cody Lindenberg, and Jack Henderson.

Mack Brown's North Carolina team went 8-5 last year but no longer has QB Drake Maye, who was the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft. The new quarterback might be LSU and Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson, but the Gophers won't know for sure until game day. Star RB Omarion Hampton (1,726 yards from scrimmage, 16 TDs in 2023) is back for the Tar Heels, as is leading receiver J.J. Jones. CB Alijah Huzzie and edge rusher Kaimon Rucker are among the names to know on UNC's defense.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. central time on FOX on Thursday night.