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Our annual May series ranking former players and teams from North Carolina’s football and basketball past continues, as this week the focus is on the top Tar Heels’ football teams from each decade.

We have broken this into six categories: Pre-1970; the 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; and since 2010.

We usually will rank six teams and seven players per period. This week’s series:

Record: 8-4 (5-3)

Bowl: Sun Bowl, lost to Texas 35-31

Ranking: No. 21

Coach: Mack Brown

All-Americans: Marcus Jones (DT).

First-Team All-ACC: Greg DeLong (TE), Marcus Jones (DT).

Honors: None.

What's To Know: Carolina began the season 5-1 that included a win over TCU and hard-fought loss at Florida State. Losses to Virginia and Clemson slowed down the season, though UNC closed with a thrilling 41-40 win at Duke, which might be the most exciting game in the history of the rivalry. The loss to Texas prompted Brown to make some changes to the defense, and after a decent transitional year in 1995, Carolina had the top unit in the nation in 1996 and 1997.

Record: 9-3 (5-3)

Bowl: Peach Bowl, beat Mississippi State 21-17

Ranking: No. 19

Coach: Mack Brown

All-Americans: Bracey Walker (DB).

First-Team All-ACC: Natrone Means RB, Randall Parsons C, Mike Thomas P.

Honors: None

What's To Know: Carolina under Mack Brown turned the corner in 1992. The Tar Heels were getting faster and more athletic on defense, and had a plan offensively. The Heels opened with a lopsided win at Wake Forest and won their first three games. They picked up consecutive home wins over ranked teams (Virginia and Georgia Tech) and entered the national rankings the week of a win at Maryland on Halloween. Decisive losses at FSU and Clemson were opportunities to learn from, which came in handy when the Tar Heels defeated No. 24 Mississippi State in the Peach Bowl. Some might recall it as the night Bracey Walker silenced MSU fans’ noisy cowbells. The Heels won five of their last six games.

Record: 10-3 (6-2)

Bowl: Gator Bowl, lost 24-10 to Alabama

Ranking: 19

Coach: Mack Brown

All-Americans: Bracey Walker (DB)

First-Team All-ACC: Ethan Albright, OT; Curtis Johnson, RB; Bracey Walker, DB.

Honors: Leon Johnson, ACC Rookie of the Year.

What's To Know: A season-opening 31-9 rout of No. 18 Southern Cal in the Disney Kickoff Classic in Anaheim, CA, was more than a sign of things to come for Mack Brown's athletic and entertaining Tar Heels. From that point on, the offense mostly hummed, as Carolina was 15th in the nation in scoring at 33.2 points per game. Their best efforts: 59 versus Maryland; 45 versus Wake and UTEP, 44 against Ohio U., 42 at Tulane and 41 versus Georgia Tech. Jason Stanicek running the option or chucking it down field was a sight to see, but so was the running and catching out of the backfield of Leon Johnson and the raw explosiveness of Curtis Johnson. Let’s also not forget the electrifying Marcus Wall, and on defense the popping of Jimmy Hitchock, sack specialist Marcus Jones and game-changing plays from Bracey Walker. A 33-7 loss at home to Florida State showed the Heels hadn’t yet arrived, but they were on their way.

Record: 10-2 (6-2)

Bowl: Gator Bowl, beat West Virginia 20-13

Ranking: 10

Coach: Mack Brown

All-Americans: Dre' Bly (DB); Freddie Jones (TE); Greg Ellis (DE); Brian Simmons (LB)

First-Team All-ACC: Chris Keldorf QB; Jeff Saturday C; Freddie Jones TE; Dre’ Bly DB; Freg Ellis DE; Brian Simmons LB; Leon Johnson Specialist.

Honors: Chris Keldorf, semifinalist Davey O'Brien Award; Leon Johnson Football News National Offensive Player of the Year; Dre' Bly, Thorpe Award finalist; Mack Brown ACC Coach of the Year

What's To Know: Mack Brown's vision began taking form several years earlier, but it really kicked into high gear with the 1996 squad. Brown was changing UNC football into one of the more prominent programs in the South. UNC opened at home with a 45-0 rout of Clemson, then won at perennial Top 25 program Syracuse, and by Nov. 16, a team that started the season unranked was at No. 6 in the nation despite already owning a loss. That, of course, was at Florida State on an afternoon the Heels allowed just 211 total yards to the usually high-octane Seminoles in the 13-0 defeat in Tallahassee. With a major bowl on the line, the Heels blew a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead falling at Virginia 20-3. This was the first step toward competing for a national championship the following season.

Record: 11-1 (6-1 ACC)

Bowl: Gator Bowl, beat Virginia Tech 42-3

Ranking: 4

Coach: Mack Brown

All-Americans: Dre' Bly (DB); Greg Ellis (DE); K Mays (LB); Brian Simmons (LB)

First-Team All-ACC: Dre’ Bly DB; Greg Ellis FE; Vonnie Holliday DL; Robert Williams DB; Kivuusama Mays LB; Jeff Saturday C.

Honors: Greg Ellis, finalist Lombardi Award; K Mays, finalist Butkus Award; Brian Simmons, semifinalist Butkus Award; Dre' Bly, finalist Nagurski Award, finalist Thorpe Award

What's To Know: The '97 Heels were perhaps the most talented team is school history. Loaded on defense with plenty on offense, this team was one game away from playing for the national championship. But a 20-3 home loss to Florida State in the biggest game on what the national media dubbed "Judgment Day" that season in college football doomed the Heels' hopes. That was also the only time UNC has hosted ESPN GameDay in football. Only two teams scored more than 14 points against the Heels, and they held a respectable quartet of nonconference opponents - Indiana, Stanford, TCU and Virginia Tech – to 36 total points. The best win was a 48-20 decision over Virginia after UNC trailed 20-3 at halftime. The next best win was a 42-3 demolition of the Hokies in the Gator Bowl, which occurred six years before Tech joined the ACC. That game also came nearly a month after Mack Brown left for the Texas job, so Carl Torbush, Brown's defensive coordinator at UNC, was the head coach and ran the team from the press box.