clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

AP Top 25 Poll: Week One

Let’s take a look at where the Tar Heels are in the rankings ahead of them kicking off their season this weekend.

By Matt Ferenchick
NCAA Football: Military Bowl-North Carolina vs Temple Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time in six months, we will get to watch a UNC sporting event this Saturday.

With COVID-19 reeking havoc on the sporting landscape, we have not gotten a chance to see a Tar Heel team take the field/court/etc for a while, but that’s soon to change. On Saturday, Carolina football will host Syracuse to begin what will be a very weird college football season.

There’s going to be a lot different about this college football season, including two fifths of the power five conferences not playing. However, one thing that we are getting as normal is the AP Poll.

Despite several teams already kicking off on Saturday and this upcoming week technically being week two, the AP did not release a new poll, therefore let’s take a look at the preseason rankings and where the Tar Heels landed to kick things off.

AP Top 25

  1. Clemson Tigers (38 First Place Votes)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (21)
  3. Alabama Crimson Tide (2)
  4. Georgia Bulldogs
  5. Oklahoma Sooners
  6. LSU Tigers (1)
  7. Penn State Nittany Lions
  8. Florida Gators
  9. Oregon Ducks
  10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  11. Auburn Tigers
  12. Wisconsin Badgers
  13. Texas A&M Aggies
  14. Texas Longhorns
  15. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  16. Michigan Wolverines
  17. USC Trojans
  18. North Carolina Tar Heels
  19. Minnesota Golden Gophers
  20. Cincinnati Bearcats
  21. UCF Golden Knights
  22. Utah Utes
  23. Iowa State Cyclones
  24. Iowa Hawkeyes
  25. Tennessee Volunteers

Where is UNC?

The Tar Heels come in 18th in the preseason poll, but as you may heard or noticed above, that includes teams that will not be playing this season. If you factor the conferences not playing out, which includes the Big Ten and Pac-12, then UNC would move up to #12. The AP left these teams in for the preseason, but is factoring them out when play begins.

Other than the inclusion of some lower ranked teams to replace the non-playing conferences, there likely wouldn’t have been much change if there had been a new poll. None of the top 25 were in action over the weekend.

Conference Breakdown

  • ACC: 3 (Including 2020 only member Notre Dame)
  • American: 2
  • Big Ten: 6
  • Big 12: 4
  • Pac-12: 3
  • SEC: 7

Top 25 Matchups This Week

  • Syracuse at #18 North Carolina (Saturday 12 PM ET on ACC Network)
  • Louisiana Lafayette at #23 Iowa State (Saturday 12 PM ET on ESPN)
  • Duke at #10 Notre Dame (Saturday 2:30 PM ET on NBC)
  • Missouri State at #5 Oklahoma (Saturday 7 PM ET)
  • #1 Clemson at Wake Forest (Saturday 7:30 PM ET on ABC)
  • Tulsa at #15 Oklahoma State (Saturday 7:30 PM ET)
  • UTEP at #14 Texas (Saturday 8:00 PM ET on Longhorn Network)

More From Tar Heel Blog