By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up in the latest AP Top 25 football poll without taking a snap this weekend.
The Tar Heels (4–0, 1–0 ACC) are up one spot to No. 14, and are 7½-point favorites for their ACC home opener at 3:30 Saturday (ESPN) against Syracuse (4–1, 0-1), which lost at home 31–14 to Clemson on Saturday.
It’s the highest AP rank for UNC since it peaked last season at No. 13 on Nov. 13.
Carolina jumped two spots to No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.
Two teams ahead of UNC in last week’s AP poll — Utah (4–1) and LSU (3–2) — lost to allow the Tar Heels to move up. Utah dropped eight spots to No. 18 after a 21–7 loss to Oregon, which moved up one spot to No. 8. LSU fell 10 spots to No. 23 after a 55–39 setback against Ole Miss, which moved up four spots to No. 16.
Duke (4–1, 1–0) fell two spots to No. 19 after losing 21–14 at home to Notre Dame, which moved up one spot to No. 10.
Two other ACC teams in the poll both had open dates: No. 5 Florida State (4–0, 2–0) and Miami (4–0, 0–0), which moved up one spot to No. 17. Louisville (5–0, 3–0) debuted in the poll at No. 25 after a 13–10 Friday win at N.C. State.
Ranking Carolina the highest at No. 11 is Mike Niziolek of the Bloomington Herald-Times in Indiana, with three ranking the Heels No. 12. Voting UNC the lowest at No. 23 is Kirk Bohls of the Austin Ameican-Statesman.
WNCN’s Jordan Crammer had UNC the highest of the North Carolina-based voters as one of five to vote the Heels No. 13. Steve Wiseman of The News & Observer voted the Tar Heels No. 14 and Kate Rogerson of WTVD put UNC No. 15.
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Maryland 81, Kansas St. 44, Texas A&M 31, UCLA 19, Tulane 8, Air Force 7, Wisconsin 6, Clemson 5, West Virginia 5, Kansas 3, James Madison 3, Colorado 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
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 via @UNCFootball
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