North Carolina:The Tar Heels are off an 11-3 season and open at No. 22 in the AP poll. Head coach Larry Fedora enters his fifth season in Chapel Hill with seven starters returning on both sides of the ball. However, QB Marquise Williams has graduated (3072 passing yards with 24 TDs and 948 rushing yards with 13 TDs), after leading the Tar Heels to an ACC title-game appearance against Clemson plus North Carolina's first season of double digit wins since Mack Brown's final season (1997). The Tar Heels finished unbeaten in ACC play last season, winning 11 games in a row before falling to eventual national runner-up Clemson in the ACC championship game (also lost to Baylor in the Russell Athletic Bowl). The major question entering 2016 is can junior Mitch Trubisky QB adequately replace Williams? He completed 40-of-47 passes in 2015 and has thrown 11 TDs while spelling Williams the past two seasons.

Georgia: the Bulldogs will take the field Saturday without Mark Richt as their head coach. Richt was at Georgia for 15 seasons and went 'bowling' every year (145-51 overall) but it wasn't good enough. He's now at Miami-Florida, with Kirby Smart, the former Nick Saban assistant, taking over. Smart's biggest decision is whether to start Jacob Eason right now at QB or is veteran Grayson Lambert the better choice to handle the first-game pressure? Smart returns home to coach his alma mater and the return to health of RBs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel should push Georgia toward the top of the SEC East.

The pick: North Carolina averaged 40.7 PPG last season and even with a less-experienced QB, expect the Tar Heels to have a potent offense. As for that North Carolina defense, yes seven starters return, Carolina's "D" has allowed more than 400 YPG each of the last three seasons. Smart's been a DC but the Bulldogs will be a potent offense this season (as long as everyone remains healthy) and this "showcase game" in the Georgia Dome will be "full of points." 10* play on the over.