The UNC football team enters its upcoming season with much lower expectations than 2025, with those expectations coming to reality during Saturday's opener against TCU.
North Carolina struggled to a 4-8 record last fall
, only beating two Power Four teams in Stanford and Syracuse. The Tar Heels failed to generate consistent offense and, while their defense improved slightly from 2024, it still allowed too many points.In USA TODAY Sports' re-rank of all 138 FBS teams ahead of Saturday's full "Week Zero" slate, UNC ranks 94th, just one spot ahead of Kentucky and a spot behind Florida International.
North Carolina has two notable positives going for it heading into a loaded 2026 schedule: a starting quarterback in Billy Edwards and its team captains.
The Tar Heels are still without general manager Michael Lombardi and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the latter of whom they they to get back soon.
After playing TCU in a rematch of the unforgettable 2025 season-opener, UNC enters its first bye week. North Carolina then hosts ETSU at 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 12 for its home opener, followed by its Sept. 19 ACC opener at Clemson.
The college football season starts in less than a week. Where do the teams stack up? Our NCAA Re-Rank 1-138 orders everyone from top to bottom. https://t.co/9iFgmuGktk
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) August 24, 2026
The Tar Heels enter their second bye week to close September, then begin a brutal October stretch that includes Notre Dame (Oct. 3), Pitt (Oct. 10) and Miami (Halloween). November is arguably tougher, with UNC traveling to UConn (Nov. 7) and Virginia (Nov. 21), while hosting Louisville (Nov. 14) and NC State (Nov. 28).
Expectations aren't high for North Carolina this fall. Can the Tar Heels pull off a few surprises and compete within a tough ACC?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Where UNC lands in first re-rank of all 138 FBS teams
