Next month, the North Carolina Tar Heels will play football. First up for UNC: a Saturday, August 29 rematch with TCU across the pond in Ireland.
North Carolina’s schedule is anything but easy in Year Two of the Bill Belichick era, featuring matchups against traditional powers in Clemson (September 19), Notre Dame (October 3) and Miami (FL) (October 31). The Tar Heels landed a few big-name transfers, like Billy Edwards Jr. and Derek McDonald, while returning breakout stars like Melkart Abou-Jaoude.
In USA TODAY Sports’ preseason ACC Football predictions, UNC finishes 14th amongst 17 teams, only ahead of Syracuse (15th), Stanford (16th) and Boston College, plus one spot behind Wake Forest and former starting quarterback Gio Lopez.
North Carolina also lands just one player on USAT Sports’ Preseason All-ACC Team, Abou-Jaoude, who is honorable mention.
The Tar Heels finished 4-8 in 2025, making preseason optimism much lower this year. UNC only beat two Power Four programs, a struggling Group of five squad and one FCS school, while largely looking overmatched against tougher competition.
Belichick coached just his first year at the collegiate level, with hope amongst Tar Heel Nation his NFL success translated over. Belichick fared well on the recruiting trail, landing guys like MAJ, but those offseason victories didn’t pay off in the winning column.
Now, Belichick has a full offseason under his belt and his own recruits coming in. Higher-profile players are joining North Carolina.
Can UNC return to a bowl game this season, pull off a few upsets and shock the college football world? We’ll know that answer early in the Tar Heels’ 2026 campaign.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC football has grim outlook in USA TODAY Sports’ preseason rankings
