National Signing Day 2017: North Carolina’s class ranked 5th in the ACC and 26th overall

With 20 new players signing their Letters of Intent to play at North Carolina on Wednesday, Rivals.com has ranked the Tar Heels’ class of 2017 as fifth best in the ACC. For a team that is going to need to rebuild a large chunk of its offense heading into next season, a strong recruiting class was definitely needed.

Carolina’s class ranks behind typical ACC powerhouses like Florida State (1st), Miami (2nd), and Clemson (3rd). Louisville just edged out the Tar Heels for the fourth spot by having six four-star signees to UNC’s five. UNC was ranked just ahead of Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.

With the Seminoles and Tigers getting all of the conferences’ five-star guys, it was really a battle to see who could find the best of the rest. Miami brought in ten four-star guys, giving them a huge edge over everyone else. With UNC really only being one player away from ranking fourth in a conference with teams like the above, it’s hard not to feel pretty good about the future.

Overall, the Tar Heels’ class ranked 26th in the country, according to ESPN. They put them just behind Virginia Tech at 23rd and just ahead of Louisville at 28th. Nine ACC schools were in the Top 40 in ESPN’s rankings, which was second in conferences behind the SEC. This is further proof that the ACC’s reputation as a football conference is growing and heading in the right direction.

Here is the full ACC rankings from Rivals:

1. Florida State
2. Miami
3. Clemson
4. Louisville
5. North Carolina
6. Virginia Tech
7. Pittsburgh
8. Georgia Tech
9. Duke
10. NC State
11. Virginia
12. Syracuse
13. Boston College
14. Wake Forest