UNC Picked 15th in Preseason ACC Football Poll Under Bill Belichick

Preseason Media Poll Slates Tar Heels Near the Bottom

According to a poll of 185 media members, which was released Tuesday, July 28, by the ACC, Belichick’s Tar Heels are predicted to finish 15th in the conference standings among the 17 teams in the league. North Carolina was picked 15th in the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference media poll, based on votes from 188 media members who attended the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., earlier this month. Bill Belichick met with local reporters for 18 minutes at ACC football media days in Charlotte.

That’s a far cry from last season, when the Tar Heels were predicted to finish eighth in the conference and instead went 4-8 in Bill Belichick’s first season at the helm. Picked to finish eighth for Belichick’s debut season, UNC posted a 4-8 record in 2025 that included a 2-6 mark in league games, and the Heels were among the bottom five teams in the standings. ACC media members aren’t expecting a bounce-back season in 2026 for Bill Belichick and UNC football, picking the Tar Heels to finish among the bottom three teams in the conference.

UNC’s biggest problem was offense: the Tar Heels ranked outside the top 100 in six offensive categories in 2025, including scoring offense (19.3 ppg, 118th). That led Belichick to hire Bobby Petrino to replace Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator.

Miami Leads the 2026 Conference Outlook

Miami has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference football championship, according to the media’s predicted order of finish following a vote of more than 185 media members credentialed for this year’s ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hurricanes received 3,159 points in the annual preseason poll to earn the top spot, followed by SMU (2,794 points), Louisville (2,569) and Clemson (2,520). Georgia Tech rounded out the top five with 2,006 points. In the media voting, Miami received 165 first-place votes. Clemson received seven first-place votes, followed by SMU.

Miami, which lost to Indiana in the national championship game in January, was picked to win the conference in the annual preseason poll. The Hurricanes were followed by SMU, Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech. Virginia, NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Duke rounded out the top 10. Miami, which competed in the championship game of the College Football Playoff last season, received 165 of 188 first-place votes from media members, easily outdistancing SMU, which edged Louisville and Clemson for second in the preseason poll. Miami hasn’t won an ACC football championship since joining the league more than two decades ago, and having joined the league in 2004, have reached the ACC title game just once — in 2017. Duke, which won the ACC title last season but lost quarterback Darian Mensah to the Hurricanes in the offseason, was selected 10th. Florida State Seminoles football was picked to finish 11th in the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Predicted Order of Finish, which was released on Tuesday, marking the lowest preseason selection ever for FSU as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which began with the 1992 season (though FSU did receive three first-place votes). NC State, a popular sleeper candidate with the return of quarterback CJ Bailey for a third season, was picked to finish seventh.