2017: North Carolina Tar Heels and Wake Football
The North Carolina Tar Heels would like to continue the defensive momentum they are building. Wake would like to go bowling again.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will be in for a rebuilding year in football while the basketball team tries to finish the job that last year’s team started. If you read the previous article in this set then you know that will not exactly happen. That doesn’t mean that we cannot speculate anyway and look at Wake Forest football while we are at it.
- North Carolina Men’s Basketball
While the Tar Heels have gotten off to an inauspicious start, so has everyone else in the league. The Heels still bring the most experienced roster to the table and that will lead to the ACC Regular Season title though they will suffer a season sweep to the Blue Devils.
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The return of Theo Pinson will add more depth and allow Coach Roy Williams to try more defense heavy lineups where necessary. The unit will once again win the ACC Tournament over Virginia but end up on the two seed line by virtue of those losses to Duke in the regular season. The Heels will advance to the Final Four where they will lose to Villanova for the second straight year.
Joel Berry will return for his senior season to build his pro stock while Justin Jackson will enter the draft and end up taken with the last pick in the first round and the Golden State Warriors. The youth movement will be in full swing as Tony Bradley takes on the main role down low for next season.
- North Carolina Football
Larry Fedora finished the year losing three of his last four and not going anywhere. That gives him the opportunity to truly rebuild his offense with Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard, Mitch Trubisky, T.J. Logan, and some linemen all leaving at the same moment.
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As a result, Elijah Hood gets lots of carries and ends up with 1500 yards rushing on the year.
The 2017 Tar Heels will be a team that relies on its defense. The third year of the Chizik program should be the charm as a bigger defensive line takes shape. Andre Smith will look better but probably get thrown out of one game somehow. The team will go 9-3 and miss the ACC Championship game again.
- Wake Forest Football
Things have to be looking up going into John Wolford’s senior year. The chance to upset Notre Dame opens up, but likely a loss will occur in Boone. Nonconference will likely be 2-2 which means a return to the bowls need four ACC wins. Duke, Syracuse, Boston College, and Georgia Tech will get that job done.