By R.L. Bynum
After capturing the final ACC Coastal Division title with Saturday night’s 36–34 victory at Wake Forest, North Carolina moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 poll to No. 13.
It’s the Tar Heels’ highest ranking since they were No. 5 in Week 7 of the 2020 season. UNC moved up three slots to No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Carolina (9–1, 6–0 ACC), which is host to Georgia Tech (4–6, 3–4) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and N.C. State (7–3, 3–3) at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, will meet Clemson (9–1, 7–0) in the ACC championship game in Charlotte at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3.
“It’s an awesome feeling heading to Charlotte,” said redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye, who is looking forward to playing in the Charlotte Panthers’ stadium for the first time. He’s only played in a seven-on-seven tournament at the facility.
It’s UNC’s second appearance in the game after losing to the Tigers 45–37 in 2015.
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The Tigers moved up from No. 10 to No 9 after a 31–16 win over Louisville and the Wolfpack fell from No. 16 to unranked after a stunning 21–20 home loss to Boston College. Florida State (7–3, 5–3) jumped from No. 23 to No. 20 after blowing out Syracuse 38–3.
Helping UNC move up were losses by UCLA (fell from No. 12 to No. 16 after a 34–28 loss to unranked Arizona) and Ole Miss (fell from No. 11 to No. 14 after a 30–24 loss to Alabama.)
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 8 was Brian Fonseca of the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., and ranking the Heels the lowest at No. 23 is Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Joe Giglio of WCMC (99.9 the Fan) in Raleigh and David Thompson of the Fayetteville Observer each had UNC No. 15 and N.C. State No. 17. Giglio had the Deacs No. 19 and Thompson left them off his ballot. Steve Wiseman, the Duke beat writer for The News & Observer, had UNC No. 16, State No. 17 and didn’t rank Wake Forest.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points (1st-place votes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia (10-0) | — | 1,574 (62) |
| 2 | Ohio State (10-0) | — | 1,501 (1) |
| 3 | Michigan (10-0) | — | 1,453 |
| 4 | TCU (10-0) | — | 1,374 |
| 5 | Tennessee (9-1) | — | 1,341 |
| 6 | LSU (8-2) | +1 | 1,218 |
| 7 | USC (9-1) | +1 | 1,152 |
| 8 | Alabama (8-2) | +2 | 1,140 |
| 9 | Clemson (9-1) | +3 | 1,055 |
| 10 | Utah (8-2) | +3 | 965 |
| 11 | Penn State (8-2) | +3 | 882 |
| 12 | Oregon (8-2) | -6 | 856 |
| 13 | North Carolina (9-1) | +2 | 843 |
| 14 | Ole Miss (8-2) | -3 | 797 |
| 15 | Washington (8-2) | +9 | 693 |
| 16 | UCLA (8-2) | -7 | 648 |
| 17 | UCF (8-2) | +5 | 537 |
| 18 | Notre Dame (7-3) | +2 | 495 |
| 19 | Kansas State (7-3) | +4 | 468 |
| 20 | Florida State (7-3) | +5 | 386 |
| 21 | Tulane (8-2) | -5 | 273 |
| 22 | Cincinnati (8-2) | — | 237 |
| 23 | Coastal Carolina (9-1) | — | 143 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State (7-3) | — | 85 |
| 25 | Oregon State (7-3) | — | 81 |
Others receiving votes: N.C. State 77, Texas 65, UTSA 51, Troy 22, Duke 16, Liberty 15, Illinois 13, Minnesota 7, Florida 6, Boise State 5, South Alabama 1. Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first-place votes.
| Team | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Miami | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Clemson | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Duke | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Virginia | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| No. 21 SMU | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Wake Forest | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| California | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Louisville | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Stanford | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| North Carolina | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Boston College | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Florida State | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| N.C. State | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Syracuse | 0–2 | 1–2 |
Friday’s result
Clemson 24, California 10
Saturday’s results
Virginia Tech 21, Boston College 14
Pittsburgh 59, Bucknell 0
Wake Forest 30, Louisville 27
Florida State 34, Central Arkansas 7
Duke 62, William & Mary 7
Virginia 42, Delaware 3
No. 4 Miami 52, Central Michigan 3
N.C. State 41, Appalachian State 31
No. 21 SMU 34, Missouri State 24
Stanford 34, Georgia Tech 27
Friday’s game
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
Saturday’s games
No. 3 Notre Dame at North Carolina, noon, ESPN
Stanford at Wake Forest, noon, ACCN
Boston College at No. 21 SMU, noon, The CW
Syracuse at UConn, noon, CBSSN
Virginia at Florida State, 3:30, ESPN2
Louisville at N.C. State, 3:30, ACCN
California at UNLV, 3:30, CBSSN
Friday, Oct. 9, game
Florida State at Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Oct. 10, games
North Carolina at Pittsburgh, noon, ESPN or ESPN2
Wake Forest at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Virginia Tech at California, 3:30, ESPN or ACCN
Duke at Georgia Tech, 3:30, ESPN2 or ACCN
Stanford at No. 3 Notre Dame, 3:30, NBC/Peacock
Syracuse at Virginia, 7:30, ACCN
UNC season scores
| 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
