College football resumes this month and, wouldn't you know, the North Carolina Tar Heels kick off Week Zero with the matchup to watch.
UNC begins Year Two of the Bill Belichick era
on Saturday, August 29 at 12 p.m., facing TCU in a rematch that quashed all hope for 2025. The Tar Heels struggled to a 4-8 finish last season, highlighted by off-field drama and constant rotation amongst starters, but a much-improved 2026 offseason gives more hope for this fall.Looking back at North Carolina football history, one of its best stretches in modern history came during the 90s, largely when Mack Brown was head coach. However good UNC was, there's one head coach who continually gave the boys in Carolina Blue trouble: Bobby Bowden.
In its recent publication
of archenemies for every Power Four football program, ESPN tabbed Bowden the Tar Heels' greatest arch-enemy.
If North Carolina is the "sleeping giant" of college football, credit Bowden with doling out some strong doses of ZzzQuil," David Hale wrote. "From 1992, when the Noles joined the ACC, through 2000, Florida State was a perfect 9-0 vs. the Tar Heels, with every game decided by double digits. FSU's presence in the ACC likely kept UNC from reaching contender status during Mack Brown's first tenure with the Heels, with losses in 1993 (33-7 when the Heels were No. 13 nationally), 1994 (31-18 when, again, UNC was No. 13), 1996 (13-0 when UNC was No. 11) and 1997 (30-3 with the Tar Heels at No. 5, their only loss that year). Carolina finally got some revenge in 2001, upending Bowden's sixth-ranked Seminoles 41-9, but the window for the Heels to make the leap to the top of the league had closed and FSU was just beginning a downward descent, so even that victory has lost a bit of luster over time."
Though North Carolina is just 4-17-1 against Florida State, 2024 was a pleasant surprise. UNC marched into Doak S. Campbell Stadium and walloped the Seminoles, 35-11, delivering an embarrassing result in arguably FSU's worst season ever.
The Tar Heels won't play FSU this season, but instead a loaded schedule with opponents like Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami (FL) and Louisville.
Is there any hope on the gridiron in Chapel Hill this fall?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: College football legend tabbed UNC's greatest archenemy
