UNC Football: Tar Heels ranked in first College Football Playoff Rankings

We take a look at where the UNC Football program stands in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year on Tuesday

For the first time since the 2016 season, the UNC Football program finds themselves ranked in the College Football Playoff.

The committee released the first rankings of this odd 2020 season on Tuesday night and the North Carolina Tar Heels came in at No. 19 in the initial rankings. With their 6-2 record, the Tar Heels still earned a spot in the rankings even with losses to Florida State and Virginia, two teams that should finish near the bottom in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

Without those two losses, we could be talking about a Top 10 Tar Heels team.

But nonetheless, they are in the Top 25 and right now they will take that. They are even a little higher than what I imagined they would be ranked. The Tar Heels are one of four ACC teams to be ranked in the initial rankings joining No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Clemson and No. 10 Miami in the rankings.

With the first rankings out, this means the Tar Heels will take on the No. 2 Fighting Irish in Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon. That’s a showdown that will have big implications on the rankings, especially in the Top 4. A win would be HUGE for UNC and surely bump them up in the rankings as well as shakeup that Top 4.

UNC has three regular season games left this year starting with Friday vs. Notre Dame and then will play Western Carolina at home and then on the road to close it out vs. Miami. They have a chance to still make the ACC title game but need to win out and have Notre Dame or Clemson lose one more.

For more on the UNC Football program, make sure to check back with Keeping It Heel.