UNC Football: Tar Heels climb into Top 5 after 3-0 start

After their big win, the UNC Football program has moved up in the latest rankings that were released on Sunday

The UNC Football program is moving on up again in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings after another win on Saturday.

Following the big win over Virginia Tech to move to 3-0, the Tar Heels have climbed into the Top 5 in the AP Poll that was released just a few minutes ago. The No. 5 ranking is the highest this season so far for UNC and their highest since 1997.

The only teams ahead of UNC in the poll are as follows: No. 1 Clemson,  No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Notre Dame. That means there is three Atlantic Coast Conference teams right now inside the Top 5, showing the strength of the conference early on.

After starting 2-0 against Syracuse and Boston College, the Tar Heels probably played their best game of the year, at least on offense vs. Virginia Tech. They jumped all over the Hokies early on in the game and led by 20-plus in the second half before holding off a late rally. But in the end they got a big win over a ranked team to keep pace with Notre Dame and Clemson in the conference.

In total, the ACC had five teams ranked in the poll as Miami fell out of the top 10 to No. 13 following a loss to Clemson and Virginia Tech fell to No. 23. North Carolina State and Boston College also received votes.

Things will be a little different in a few weeks when the Big Ten plays their first games of the season and it will certainly have an impact on the rankings. But for now, UNC is holding their place as a Top 5 team.

UNC also moved up in the Coaches Poll, climbing to No. 6 behind Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

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