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Preseason college football magazines hit the shelves not too long ago, and with them and the online publications' previews, come the always anticipated conference predictions and national rankings.

Of course, the most noteworthy league picks are revealed after media days, which for the ACC is July 20 and 21 in Charlotte, formally known as the ACC Kickoff.

On tap those two days will be questions about the coming season, as always, but also the future of the ACC. Closer to home, however, with our focus here the North Carolina Tar Heels, we decided to take a peak at some of the preseason predictions that are out to glean how the various services view Mack Brown’s team, as the opener is just more than six weeks away.

Carolina kicks off its season August 27 at home versus FCS member Florida A&M before traveling to Appalachian State and Georgia State. An open date is followed by a home game versus Notre Dame, and then its ACC contests the rest of the way.

As for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Tar Heels are ranked fourth overall and second in the Coastal Division by ESPN FPI, its computer model that produces rankings and projections. In addition, Athlon has the Heels third in the Coastal, and On3 has UNC sixth in the ACC in its power rating, including third in the Coastal.

SI’s Fan Nation HQ has the Tar Heels third in the Coastal and sixth in its ACC power ratings.

CBS has UNC’s over/under win number at 7.5 (-105/-125 for those with gambling interests). Interesting partial take from the UNC write-up: “The typical North Carolina football season tends to deliver the entire spectrum of results across 12 games, with no long stretches of consistency in either the positive or negative direction.”

The pick by CBS is under 7.5 wins.

Nationally, Carolina is No. 22 in the ESPN FPI computer rankings, plus UNC is also No. 17 in the early 247 network poll.

That North Carolina would make any preseason national ranking is a surprise, especially after the Tar Heels went from No. 10 and considered an outside contender for the College Football Playoff (CFP) before last season kicked off to a 6-7 mark capping the year with an embarrassing loss to South Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

UNC has talent, however, albeit quite young, and it has Gene Chizik back at defensive coordinator. Some pundist are assuming he makes a similar difference this year as when Chizik came on board in 2015 helping the Tar Heels win 11 games after going 6-7 the season before.

So, with less than two weeks before the ACC Kickoff and official preseason picks come out, we wanted to whet the appetite some here, plus toss in some UNC’s history in the AP rankings.

In addition, in the thread where this piece is posted, we want our readers to post on our message boards (premium if you are a premium subscriber, free board if you are not), where in the Coastal Division you think the Tar Heels will finish as well as the odds they conclude the season ranked in the AP or CFP polls.

*UNC has been ranked for at least one week in 42 AP polls, which began in 1936, so there have been 86 years of rankings, and Carolina has appeared at least once in 48.9 percent of the seasons.

*The Tar Heels have been ranked in 261 polls in its history, including eight times just once in those respective seasons (2010, 1998, 1991, 1986, 1978, 1959, 1942, 1938).

*UNC has appeared in the final AP rankings 17 times: 2020 (18); 2015 (15); 1997 (6); 1996 (10); 1993 (19); 1992 (19); 1982 (18); 1981 (9); 1980 (10); 1979 (15); 1977 (17); 1972 (12); 1949 (16); 1948 (3); 1947 (9); 1946 (9); 1937 (19).

*Carolina has been ranked in the top 10 of the rankings 79 times.

*UNC has been ranked in the top five of the rankings 25 times.