The SportsWire

#1Miami at North Carolina

Prediction · week 9, 2026 · Sat Oct 31, 6:30 PM CT · Kenan Stadium

Updated Sun Oct 25, 5:13 PM CT

#1Miami7-0
Upcoming
North Carolina4-2

Sat Oct 31, 6:30 PM CT · Kenan Stadium

MIAMiami · 7-0 Sat Oct 31, 6:30 PM CT UNCNorth Carolina · 4-2

87%Our win chance13%

Our win chance: Miami 87% · North Carolina 13% · experimental, see how it is tested

Model comparison

9 of 9 models favor Miami

ModelSaysWin chance
SP+
Miami +25.3 vs North Carolina +5.0 · week 8 ratings
Miami by 17.8Miami 90%
Elo
Miami 2018 vs North Carolina 1461
Miami by 19.8Miami 92%
Our model · experimental
no snapshot for this game
n/a–
ESPN FPI
Miami +26.5 vs North Carolina +8.7
Miami by 15.3Miami 87%
SRS
Miami +20.0 vs North Carolina +9.5
Miami by 8Miami 72%
Sagarin
Miami +90.7 vs North Carolina +76.2
Miami by 10.7Miami 78%
Sonny Moore
Miami +96.6 vs North Carolina +77.5
Miami by 15.1Miami 86%
The Margin
The Margin's model
Miami by 15.5Miami 87%
Record
North Carolina 4-2, Miami 7-0
Miami (better record)–
Market
the market's pregame margin
Miami by 14.5Miami 85%

Each margin is from the same weekly ratings the team pages use: SP+ and Elo from their rating gap, the home team given 2.5 points (none at a neutral site); Our model is this site's experimental rating; Market is the margin the market expected before kickoff; ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin and Sonny Moore are rating gaps like SP+'s (each with its own home field), The Margin is that site's own model, and Record names the team with the better record (the home team on equal records). How these work ›

Matchup efficiency

Efficiency matchup · season to date · North Carolina 6 games, Miami 7 games

Edge: Miami wins 4 of 5

Miami moves the ball better, stops plays better, is more disruptive and has the edge on big plays. North Carolina allows fewer big plays.

North Carolinalonger bar = betterMiami
  • 45% Moves the ballsuccessful plays ✓53%
  • 43% Stops playssuccessful plays allowed ✓38%
  • 13% Disruptionsacks, TFLs, turnovers ✓15%
  • 1.11 Big playson offense ✓1.35
  • 1.07✓ Big plays allowedon defense 1.32

Run game, head to head · season to date

North Carolina's runs work 44% of the time; Miami's run defense allows 33%. Miami's runs work 47% of the time; North Carolina's run defense allows 46%.

More numbers
MeasureNorth CarolinaMiamiEdge
Off. success rate45.4%53.0%Miami
Off. explosiveness1.111.35Miami
Def. success rate allowed42.8%37.9%Miami
Def. explosiveness allowed1.071.32North Carolina
Havoc created12.7%14.7%Miami
  • Run game, success rate: North Carolina offense 44.3% · Miami defense allows 32.7% · edge: Miami
  • Run game, success rate: Miami offense 47.2% · North Carolina defense allows 45.8% · edge: Miami
  • Run game, PPA per play: North Carolina offense +0.04 · Miami defense allows -0.18 · edge: Miami
  • Run game, PPA per play: Miami offense +0.21 · North Carolina defense allows +0.04 · edge: Miami
  • Success rate: how often a play does its job, gaining enough yards to keep the offense on schedule.
  • Explosiveness: how big a team's successful plays are on average; a higher number means more big gains.
  • Havoc: how often the defense blows up a play with a sack, a tackle for loss, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • PPA (predicted points added): how many points an average play is worth to the offense; above zero is good for the offense, below zero good for the defense.

How to read this

  • Each row compares the two teams on one measure of how well they have played this season, offense and defense, using every game so far with garbage time (plays late in a decided game) left out.
  • The run game rows pair one team's rushing offense with the other's run defense. The row goes to whichever side is further from the FBS baseline this season, the offense by how far it runs above it, the defense by how much less it allows (baseline: run success rate 43%, PPA per play +0.08, the midpoint of what FBS offenses gain and FBS defenses allow, since both also play FCS teams), so two strong sides or two weak ones are judged by which is the more so. Edges within 3 points of success rate or 0.05 PPA are even. A strong run offense against a weak run defense is where a team can control the game on the ground.
  • In the five rows at the top the longer bar is the better number: bars are scaled within each row, and in the two "allowed" rows the lower number gets the longer bar.
  • Success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, most of them on second, all of them on third or fourth). Explosiveness is how big the successful plays were, on average, in points. Havoc is the share of the opponent's snaps the defense wrecked: a tackle for loss, a sack, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • "Allowed" rows are what each defense gave up, so the lower value wins.
  • These are not adjusted for who each team has played, so a light schedule flatters a team, and early in the season they rest on very few games.
  • Metrics explained: success rate, explosiveness and havoc ›

The prediction

All 9 models favor Miami (SP+ from the week 8 snapshot).

Our call posts Monday when this week's ratings are set.

SP+ has Miami by 17.8, Elo has Miami by 19.8, ESPN FPI has Miami by 15.3, SRS has Miami by 8.0, Sagarin has Miami by 10.7, Sonny Moore has Miami by 15.1, The Margin has Miami by 15.5, and Market has Miami by 14.5. They are within 11.8 points of each other.

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