North Carolina Tar Heels: #20 in SI Post Spring Ranking

Dec 29, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; The North Carolina Tar Heels are introduced before the first quarter of the Russell Athletic Bowl against the Baylor Bears at Florida Citrus Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; The North Carolina Tar Heels are introduced before the first quarter of the Russell Athletic Bowl against the Baylor Bears at Florida Citrus Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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The North Carolina Tar Heels received good news from one preseason publication in this early time of the college football year.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have garnered a bit of attention for themselves in the world of college football. The Sports Illustrated too early post spring top 25 came out and the Tar Heels are on it along a few other ACC teams. So what does the world look like according to Colin Becht of Sports Illustrated?

The SI Post Spring Top 25

  1. Oklahoma Sooners
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Florida State Seminoles
  4. Clemson Tigers
  5. Ohio State Buckeyes
  6. LSU Tigers
  7. Michigan Wolverines
  8. Tennessee Volunteers
  9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  10. Baylor Bears
  11. Stanford Cardinal
  12. Ole Miss Rebels
  13. Houston Cougars
  14. Iowa Hawkeyes
  15. TCU Horned Frogs
  16. Louisville Cardinals
  17. Washington Huskies
  18. Michigan State Spartans
  19. USC Trojans
  20. North Carolina Tar Heels
  21. Georgia Bulldogs
  22. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  23. Oregon Ducks
  24. Miami Hurricanes
  25. Washington State Cougars

It is easy to note that only the returning Peach Bowl champions, the Houston Cougars, made this list from outside the Power 5 conferences.

More from Old North Banter

Of course the important thing is the team at number 20 in these rankings. The Tar Heels were given this ranking largely on the continuity of their offensive personnel. The Tar Heels are the top rated team from the ACC Coastal Division in the rankings though there are three Atlantic Division teams ranked in front of them.

Another interesting feature is that the Tar Heels would enter their first game against Georgia has the higher rated team based on this list. It just wasn’t a possibility that I had thought about personally. ACC-SEC cross games are just so much more important to the ACC than the SEC is the current environment.

Next: Justin Jackson Still Undecided

Of course it is good news for the Tar Heels to be rated at all because the better the preseason positioning the easier it is to get up the ladder later. I would just point out that these are only Colin Becht’s rankings and not the AP or Coaches Poll.