CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina football and being nationally ranked haven’t exactly rendered supremely positive results the last few seasons.

To be blunt, the Tar Heels haven’t handled national acclaim all that well. That isn’t really a hot take, it comes from their Hall of Fame coach’s lips.

But because Carolina didn’t deal with a top-five ranking in 2020 or starting out 10th last season well, Mack Brown has a different vibe about his current club, which is ranked No. 21 this week.

“We were ranked fifth in the Covid year and went to Florida State and lost,” said Brown during his weekly press conference Monday at the Kenan Football Center, while also acknowledging he isn’t worried about his team handles its recent prosperity.

“And we weren’t fifth, and a third of the teams (nationally) hadn’t even played… Then last year, we were way over-ranked in the preseason losing 4,200 yards of offense. So, I think what they’ve done is they’ve learned from: it matters what you do when you’re ranked more than getting ranked.”

**************************************************************************************

Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!

***************************************************************************************

The 2020 season was strange on many fronts, and when UNC went to Tallahassee ranked No. 5 in the nation, neither the Big Ten or Pac-12 had started their seasons yet. Carolina ended up No. 18 in the final poll and played in the Orange Bowl, but the lesson earlier that season still resonates.

Last season, UNC was among the more hyped non-traditional powers nationally, which included Sam Howell getting plenty of Heisman Trophy mentions. But the Tar Heels floundered out of the gate at Virginia Tech and were a forgotten team the rest of the way. That realist isn’t lost on his club, though Brown still reminded them.

“We’re one loss away from not being mentioned again for the rest of the year,” he said. “I’ve told them enjoy it Sunday, enjoy it today, and then move on, man.”

In addition to being ranked, the Tar Heels have emerged as the clear favorites to win the ACC Coastal Division. They have at least a two-game lead on everyone else in the division, and if they can beat Pittsburgh this weekend, win at struggling Virginia the following week, and beat a three-win Georgia Tech team at home in a month, the Tar Heels will clinch the division, and that’s with games against Wake Forest and NC State not being factored.

Anticipation is suddenly high around the program.

“It matters absolutely not,” Brown said about the growing hype and expectations. “Fans like it, they can talk about it. Recruits like it, they can talk about it. But (inside) of this building, none of that matters.

“None of the talk about conference race, conference championship game, or polls matter at all. And I’ve felt like this team is more mature than some we’ve had, even for a lot of young guys, and I’ve felt like they’ve responded t it. They’re 21st, and they went, ‘Man, that’s good.’ But Ced Gray said, ‘It doesn’t matter, let’s go back to work.’”

That is the mindset Brown has worked to instill within his program. The current Heels have plenty of recent evidence seeing the results of not handling it well, so their mandate is to flip that script.