By R.L. Bynum
In the first non-COVID-19 season without divisions since 2005, the media picked North Carolina — the last Coastal Division champion — on Tuesday to finish third in the ACC. Clemson is the prohibitive favorite to win the league for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
The league will announce the preseason All-ACC team on Wednesday.
It’s the highest that the Tar Heels have been picked before a season without divisions since being projected second in 1997 (when they finished second) and 1998 (fourth).
UNC reported for preseason camp on Tuesday, with the first practice set for Wednesday.
Clemson finished first in the poll with 103 first-place votes and 2,370 poll points, followed by Florida State with 67 and 2,304 and UNC with five and 1,981. N.C. State is picked fourth and got the only other first-place vote with 1,662 poll points.
The five first-place votes for the Tar Heels are the most in a non-division season since garnering 20 before that 1997 team, in the last season of Coach Mack Brown’s first stint at UNC, went 11-1.
For the 2020 season without divisions, Carolina was picked to finish third and finished fourth. In the last preseason poll without divisions before that, the Tar Heels were picked 10th in 2004 and finished fifth.
The Tar Heels haven’t been the preseason pick to win the ACC since they did it in five consecutive seasons ending in 1984. UNC only won it during that span in 1980, which was the last time the Heels won an ACC title.
In the division era, UNC was picked to win the Coastal Division in 2016 (finishing second) and 2021 (finishing fifth). UNC won the division in 2015 (after being picked in the preseason poll to finish fifth) and 2022 (third). After being picked third, the Tar Heels finished first in the division in 2012 when they were ineligible for the division title or the title game.
ACC preseason poll
Vote of 176 ACC media members attending last week’s ACC Kickoff in Charlotte
- Clemson (103 first-place votes), 2,370 poll points
- Florida State (67), 2,304
- North Carolina (5), 1,981
- N.C. State (1), 1,662
- Miami, 1,553
T6. Duke, 1,511
T6. Pittsburgh, 1,511 - Louisville, 1,344
- Wake Forest, 1,181
- Syracuse, 826
- Virginia Tech, 678
- Georgia Tech, 633
- Boston College, 561
- Virginia, 365
UNC schedule
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Opponent/event | 2023 record | UNC record in series |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | |||
| 20 | Spring game, 3 p.m. | — | — |
| August | |||
| 29 (Thurs.) | at Minnesota | 6–7 | 1–0 |
| September | |||
| 7 | Charlotte | 3–9 | 0–0 |
| 14 | N.C. Central | 9–3 | 0–0 |
| 21 | James Madison | 11–2 | 3–0 |
| 28 | at Duke | 8–5 | 65–40–4 |
| October | |||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 3–9 | 12–5 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | 7–6 | 22–33–3 |
| 26 | at Virginia | 3–9 | 66–58–4 |
| November | |||
| 2 | at Florida State | 13–1 | 3–17–1 |
| 16 | Wake Forest | 4–8 | 72–36–2 |
| 23 | at Boston College | 7–6 | 6–2 |
| 30 | N.C. State | 9–4 | 68–39–6 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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