Not sure about any comparisons to Fred Astaire, but few college head coaches seem to have danced their way out of trouble any better than Dave Doeren, who has survived into an 11th season at NC State despite working under multiple ADs and various rumors of an intense hot seat. But Doeren keeps winning enough to stay out of serious trouble, such as a year ago when recording an 8-5 mark and another bowl invitation (a bowl they actually played in following the cancellation of the preceding year's Holiday Bowl). Continuing the dance theme, Doeren seems to have changed his steps leading up to 2023 with the offense now pointed in a different direction thanks to the portal and staff changes.

Those changes start with transfer QB Brennan Armstrong, who two years ago posted some outlandish numbers at Virginia (including 4,449 passing yards and 31 TD passes) before everything went off the rails last fall in Charlottesville as Tony Elliott's interpretation of offense proved far different than what previously worked under Bronco Mendenhall. No one suffered more than Armstrong, whose TD pass total dropped to a mere seven (in 10 games) before deciding to hit the portal. Raleigh made sense as a landing spot due to a) familiarity with the ACC, and b) even more familiarity with new Wolfpack OC Robert Anae, who held the same role at Charlottesville during the prolific autumn with Armstrong back in 2021.

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of North Carolina's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the ACC season.

ACC preview: Conference winner | Boston College | Clemson | Duke | Florida State | Georgia Tech | Louisville | Miami | NC State | North Carolina | Pittsburgh | Syracuse | Virginia | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest

2023 North Carolina at a glance

• Last Year: 9-5 SU, 6-7-1 ATS, 6-8 O/U
  
• Returning Starters: Offense 6; Defense 7
• Win Total: 8.5 (Over +130, Under -150)
  

What do you need to know about North Carolina before locking in your ACC futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see ACC futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!