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Expectations from outside Chapel Hill remain low for the second season of the Bill Belichick era.
North Carolina was picked to finish 15th out of 17 teams in the 2026 ACC Football Preseason Media Poll, released Tuesday following the conference’s annual ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte. The Tar Heels received 831 total points, placing them ahead of only Boston College and Stanford in the projected order of finish.
Miami was the overwhelming choice to win the conference, collecting 165 of the 188 available first-place votes and 3,159 total points. SMU finished second, followed by Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech.
While the Hurricanes dominated the voting, six other programs received at least one first-place vote. Clemson earned seven, SMU received six, Louisville collected four and Georgia Tech received two. More surprisingly, Florida State received three first-place votes despite being picked 11th overall, while last-place Stanford somehow appeared atop one voter’s ballot.
North Carolina finished 11 points behind 14th-place Syracuse but well ahead of Boston College, which received 491 points. The low projection is understandable after the Tar Heels went just 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play during Belichick’s debut season as a college head coach.
Carolina will also have fewer obvious opportunities to manufacture victories in Year 2.
The 2026 schedule begins with a high-profile international matchup against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. The Tar Heels will also host Notre Dame and travel to UConn in nonconference action. Their ACC schedule includes home games against Louisville, Miami, NC State and Syracuse, along with road trips to Clemson, Duke, Pitt and Virginia.
That represents a significant increase in difficulty from Belichick’s first season. UNC will face four of the five teams picked atop the ACC preseason poll, including road games against Clemson and home matchups with Miami and Louisville. Add TCU and Notre Dame to the equation, and the Tar Heels will have little room for error as they attempt to climb the conference standings.
Of course, preseason polls are predictions rather than guarantees. Florida State and Stanford receiving first-place votes despite being projected near the bottom of the league demonstrate how subjective—and occasionally strange—the process can be.
Still, being selected 15th provides a clear snapshot of how the conference currently views North Carolina. Belichick arrived in Chapel Hill with unmatched professional credentials, but a four-win opening season did little to convince the ACC media that an immediate breakthrough is coming.
Now the Tar Heels have an opportunity to use that skepticism as motivation.
Year 1 was about installing a new program, rebuilding the roster and adjusting to Belichick’s methods. Year 2 must begin producing more tangible progress, even against a schedule that appears far less forgiving. North Carolina does not necessarily have to compete for the ACC championship to outperform expectations, but escaping the conference’s bottom tier would represent an important step forward.
The media has established the starting point: 15th out of 17 teams. It is now up to Belichick and the Tar Heels to prove they belong much higher.
Continue reading...
North Carolina was picked to finish 15th out of 17 teams in the 2026 ACC Football Preseason Media Poll, released Tuesday following the conference’s annual ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte. The Tar Heels received 831 total points, placing them ahead of only Boston College and Stanford in the projected order of finish.
Miami was the overwhelming choice to win the conference, collecting 165 of the 188 available first-place votes and 3,159 total points. SMU finished second, followed by Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech.
While the Hurricanes dominated the voting, six other programs received at least one first-place vote. Clemson earned seven, SMU received six, Louisville collected four and Georgia Tech received two. More surprisingly, Florida State received three first-place votes despite being picked 11th overall, while last-place Stanford somehow appeared atop one voter’s ballot.
North Carolina finished 11 points behind 14th-place Syracuse but well ahead of Boston College, which received 491 points. The low projection is understandable after the Tar Heels went just 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play during Belichick’s debut season as a college head coach.
Carolina will also have fewer obvious opportunities to manufacture victories in Year 2.
The 2026 schedule begins with a high-profile international matchup against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. The Tar Heels will also host Notre Dame and travel to UConn in nonconference action. Their ACC schedule includes home games against Louisville, Miami, NC State and Syracuse, along with road trips to Clemson, Duke, Pitt and Virginia.
That represents a significant increase in difficulty from Belichick’s first season. UNC will face four of the five teams picked atop the ACC preseason poll, including road games against Clemson and home matchups with Miami and Louisville. Add TCU and Notre Dame to the equation, and the Tar Heels will have little room for error as they attempt to climb the conference standings.
Of course, preseason polls are predictions rather than guarantees. Florida State and Stanford receiving first-place votes despite being projected near the bottom of the league demonstrate how subjective—and occasionally strange—the process can be.
Still, being selected 15th provides a clear snapshot of how the conference currently views North Carolina. Belichick arrived in Chapel Hill with unmatched professional credentials, but a four-win opening season did little to convince the ACC media that an immediate breakthrough is coming.
Now the Tar Heels have an opportunity to use that skepticism as motivation.
Year 1 was about installing a new program, rebuilding the roster and adjusting to Belichick’s methods. Year 2 must begin producing more tangible progress, even against a schedule that appears far less forgiving. North Carolina does not necessarily have to compete for the ACC championship to outperform expectations, but escaping the conference’s bottom tier would represent an important step forward.
The media has established the starting point: 15th out of 17 teams. It is now up to Belichick and the Tar Heels to prove they belong much higher.
Continue reading...
