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CHAPEL HILL – The initial College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday evening, and North Carolina sits at No. 17.
The Tar Heels are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. They are also No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the Coaches’ poll this week.
Carolina won its first three games before dropping a 45-32 decision at home to Notre Dame. Since, UNC has won four consecutive games, and is 4-0 on the road this season. The last time UNC was 7-1 was in 2015, and this is the 19th time in the program’s history it is 7-1 or better to start a season.
UNC Coach Mack Brown’s last two teams in his first stint in Chapel Hill were 7-1 in 1996 and 8-0 in 1997 through their first eight contests.
“This team has done some special things to get us to this point,” Brown said during his weekly press conference Monday at the Kenan Football Center. “You love to be playing for something in late October and early November that’s important.”
Brown’s message to his team in recent weeks, since they entered the national rankings and have clearly become the front-runners for the ACC Coastal Division title, was to disregard all of that, to stay focused on the task at hand. He wants them to appreciate the rankings, but has pushed the message that the only ranking that matters is the one at the end of the season.
He has also said the CFP ranking carries some importance because it does determine the playoff picture, and is also a statement on each team’s resumes to that point in the season, unlike the AP and Coaches’ polls, which are weighted by where teams begin in the rankings as well as perception.
Brown says his team is handling all of this quite well.
“I show them each week the heartbreaks of the teams that are ranked and get beat,” Brown said. “I said, ‘Those teams all sat here ranked real high last Sunday, and here they are.’ Devastating losses…
“One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about this team is they really have been a player-led team. It’s something we talk about all the time, but they have it. And I told them after the pre-game talk on Saturday, “We are leaving you. This is your team. You get on the bus, you go play.’”
UNC travels to Virginia on Saturday to face the 3-5 (1-4) Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. The game kicks at noon and will air on the ACC Network.
