Where does famed college football sportswriter rank UNC ahead of 2025 season?
In just over a month, you'll be glued to your couches watching college football. Week Zero will kick off August 23, featuring Iowa State and Kansas State in the Aer Lingus Classic from Dublin (Ireland), then your North Carolina Tar Heels face TCU on September 1 at 8 p.m.
UNC enters its 2025 campaign with heightened expectations, due to the offseason hiring of Bill Belichick as head coach, but also plenty of unknown. North Carolina replaced a good portion of its starters through the transfer portal, most notably with quarterback Gio Lopez, while also landing freshmen expected to make immediate impacts from Day One.
Speaking of the Tar Heels, where are they ranked ahead of this coming season? In the following On3 Sports article, Phil Steele ranks UNC 57th. North Carolina is one spot behind Arizona, which finished 2024 with its sixth losing season in seven years, plus a slot ahead of Tulane – coached by Jon Summrall.
The Tar Heels will be tested early in their schedule, hosting 2022 CFP runner-up TCU at 8 p.m. on Labor Day. UNC should have two easy wins after playing the Horned Frogs, with a trip to Charlotte and a home date with Richmond on September 13, then face a tough challenge at UCF before a bye week.
North Carolina will host Clemson on October 4, then enter its second bye week. California and Virginia are two beatable teams, then a road date with Syracuse on Halloween will be testing. Stanford, Wake Forest, Duke and NC State close out the Tar Heels' schedule.
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