By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s football team, which moved up one spot to No. 21 in the AP Top 25, didn’t play this weekend but the Tar Heels’ potential path to the ACC championship game got a bit easier.
Louisville provided help by winning 24–10 at home Saturday against Pittsburgh, which gives the Tar Heels (6–1, 3–0 ACC) a two-game lead in the loss column over their closest competitors in the race to be the final ACC Coastal Division champion.
According to ESPN’s football power index (FPI), Carolina has an 85.4% chance of winning the division. UNC’s 8 p.m. Saturday home opponent Pittsburgh (4–3, 1–2) has the next-best chance at 6.9%.
There wasn’t much movement in the AP Top 25 with UNC among eight teams on open dates, but Wake Forest (6–1, 2–1) notably moved into the top 10 at a tie for No. 10 with USC after blowing out Boston College 43–16 and LSU going from unranked to No. 18 after beating Ole Miss (which fell eight spots to No. 15) 42–3.
N.C. State also didn’t play but fell one spot to No. 24. UNC also moved up one spot to No. 21 in the coaches poll.
Joe Giglio of WCMC (99.9 The Fan) was among three voters to rank UNC the highest at No. 16, along with Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net and Stephen Hargis of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. Giglio has Wake Forest No. 10 and didn’t rank N.C. State.
Steve Wiseman, the Duke beat reporter for The News & Observer, ranked Wake Forest No. 8, UNC No. 21 and N.C. State No. 25. David Thompson, the N.C. State beat writer for the Fayetteville Observer and the USA Today Network, has the Deacs No. 11, the Heels No. 20 and the Wolfpack No. 22.
Seven AP voters didn’t rank UNC, including former Herald-Sun sportswriter Mike Berardino of the South Bend Tribune.
Duke (5–3, 2–2), which won at Miami (3–4, 1–2) 45–21, is tied for second place with Georgia Tech (3–3, 2–2), which lost at home to Virginia 16–9 on Thursday.
If Carolina can win its final three games against Coastal Division rivals — Saturday against Pittsburgh, at Virginia on Nov. 5 and at home against Georgia Tech on Nov. 19 — the Tar Heels could lose at Wake Forest on Nov. 12 and at home vs. N.C. State on Nov. 25 and still advance to the ACC championship game because they would have the tiebreaker against the rest of the division.
This is the last season of ACC divisions, and the Coastal champion appears likely to face Clemson in the ACC championship game at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3 in Charlotte (ABC). ESPN FPI gives the Tigers an 82.3% chance of winning the league title and Carolina the next-highest chance at 15.9%.
The Tigers (8–0, 6–0) are the only other team unbeaten in the league after giving Syracuse (6–1, 3–1) its first loss, 27–21 at Clemson on Saturday.
Carolina has lost both games against Pittsburgh since Coach Mack Brown returned to UNC with both games at Pittsburgh, 34–27 in 2019 and 30–23 last season. The Tar Heels, who lead the all-time series 10–5, had won six in a row before that.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia (7-0) | — | 1,530 (31) |
| 2 | Ohio State (7-0) | — | 1,513 (18) |
| 3 | Tennessee (7-0) | — | 1,476 (13) |
| 4 | Michigan (7-0) | — | 1,382 |
| 5 | Clemson (8-0) | — | 1,318 (1) |
| 6 | Alabama (7-1) | — | 1,266 |
| 7 | TCU (7-0) | +1 | 1,213 |
| 8 | Oregon (6-1) | +2 | 1,114 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State (6-1) | +2 | 1,064 |
| 10 | USC (6-1) | +2 | 927 |
| 10 | Wake Forest (6-1) | +3 | 927 |
| 12 | UCLA (6-1) | -3 | 803 |
| 13 | Penn State (6-1) | +3 | 783 |
| 14 | Utah (5-2) | +1 | 766 |
| 15 | Ole Miss (7-1) | -8 | 744 |
| 16 | Syracuse (6-1) | -2 | 626 |
| 17 | Illinois (6-1) | +1 | 508 |
| 18 | LSU (6-2) | — | 502 |
| 19 | Kentucky (5-2) | — | 429 |
| 20 | Cincinnati (6-1) | +1 | 386 |
| 21 | North Carolina (6-1) | +1 | 278 |
| 22 | Kansas State (5-2) | -5 | 272 |
| 23 | Tulane (7-1) | +2 | 243 |
| 24 | N.C. State (5-2) | -1 | 169 |
| 25 | South Carolina (5-2) | — | 113 |
Others receiving votes: Texas 38, Liberty 35, Oregon State 25, Mississippi State 10, Maryland 8, Troy 3, UTSA 1, Arkansas 1, Washington 1, Florida State 1. (Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first-place votes).
ACC standings
| Team | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|
| X — No. 5 Florida State | 8–0 | 12–0 |
| X — No. 9 Louisville | 7–1 | 10–2 |
| N.C. State | 6–2 | 9–3 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–3 | 6–6 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–3 | 6–6 |
| Clemson | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| North Carolina | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| Duke | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Miami | 3–5 | 7–5 |
| Boston College | 3–5 | 6–6 |
| Syracuse | 2–6 | 6–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Virginia | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Wake Forest | 1–7 | 4–8 |
Friday’s result
Miami 45, Boston College 20
Saturday’s games
Kentucky 38, No. 9 Louisville 31
Duke 30, Pittsburgh 19
Syracuse 35, Wake Forest 31
No. 1 Georgia 31, Georgia Tech 23
Virginia Tech 55, Virginia 17
Clemson 16, South Carolina 7
No. 5 Florida State 24, Florida 15
N.C. State 39, North Carolina 20
Next Saturday’s ACC championship game in Charlotte
No. 9 Louisville vs. No. 5 Florida State, 8 p.m., ABC
| Date | Month/day | Time/score | Location | Opponent (current rank) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||||
| 27 | Saturday | W, 56–24 | Home | Florida A&M | 1–0 |
| September | |||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 63–61 | Boone | Appalachian State | 2–0 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 35–28 | Atlanta | Georgia State | 3–0 |
| 24 | Saturday | L, 45–32 | Home | No. 19 Notre Dame | 3–1 |
| October | |||||
| 1 | Saturday | W, 41–10 | Home | Virginia Tech | 4–1, 1–0 ACC |
| 8 | Saturday | W, 27–24 | Miami Gardens, Fla. | Miami | 5–1, 2–0 ACC |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 38–35 | Durham | Duke | 6–1, 3–0 ACC |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 42–24 | Home | Pittsburgh | 7–1, 4–0 ACC |
| November | |||||
| 5 | Saturday | W, 31–28 | Charlottesville | Virginia | 8–1, 5–0 ACC |
| 12 | Saturday | W, 36–34 | Winston-Salem | Wake Forest | 9–1, 6–0 ACC |
| 19 | Saturday | L, 21–17 | Home | Georgia Tech | 9–2, 6–1 ACC |
| 25 | Friday | L, 30–27, 2 OTs | Home | No. 25 N.C. State | 9–3, 6–2 ACC |
| December | ACC championship | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 39–10 | Charlotte | No. 10 Clemson | 9–4 |
| Holiday Bowl | |||||
| 28 | Wednesday | L, 28–27 | San Diego | No. 15 Oregon | 9–5 |
Photo via @UNCFootball
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