ESPN college football reporter Mark Schlabach makes his prediction for the ACC Championship Game: No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Clemson. The Tigers are favored by 4.5 points in Charlotte.
The term used in 2015 was “trap game” in order to soften the blow, but the translation was direct. Whether it was to Louisville or Georgia Tech or Miami or South Carolina, there remained a faction of college football fans and media who still subscribed to an outdated narrative and pegged Clemson to drop a game it shouldn’t.
At North Carolina, few outside of Chapel Hill were buying into the Tar Heels' ACC championship prospects, even as they rolled through the ACC.