Where does USA TODAY Sports project UNC to finish in 2025 college football season?
The North Carolina Tar Heels made offseason college football headlines in December, hiring Bill Belichick to be their next head football coach.
In Week 1 of the 2025 college football season, UNC will again be the focus of national attention, hosting TCU September 1 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
There's plenty of expectations for North Carolina this fall, but Belichick's hiring doesn't guarantee immediate success. That's reflected in USA TODAY Sports' preseason predictions for the ACC standings, with the Tar Heels projected to finish 12th amongst 17 teams.
UNC is one spot ahead of Boston College, which won a 41-21 matchup between the two programs in November 2024. North Carolina trails Syracuse, which won the 2024 Holiday Bowl and finished ranked for the first time since 2018, by one spot.
The Tar Heels' success will depend greatly on their new-look roster, which features a brand-new quarterback in Gio Lopez and an entirely-new defensive line. It can take time for new acquisitions to mesh, but I have a feeling Belichick will get his players focused quickly – if they aren't already.
After hosting the Horned Frogs, who appeared in the 2022 National Championship game, the Tar Heels' schedule gets easier with consecutive games against Charlotte and Richmond. UNC then faces a 2-game gauntlet in UCF and Clemson, with a bye week sandwiched in-between, followed by California, Virginia and Syracuse to close out October. Stanford and Wake Forest are beatable opponents to open North Carolina's November slate, then Duke and NC State pose significant challenges.
These are simply preseason projections, which are rarely accurate. Good news: the Tar Heels are 0-0, a mindset they'll carry into each week this fall.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
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