Bill Belichick and UNC given no hope to turn things around in new ACC media poll

The 2026 college football season hasn't even started yet, and expectations are already insanely low for Bill Belichick and the UNC football program.

The annual ACC Preseason Poll was revealed on Tuesday, and you essentially have to look at the bottom to see where the Tar Heels rank.

Just how far down the list is North Carolina?

UNC projected to finish 15th in the ACC for the 2026 season

In a 17-team league, the conference's annual preseason poll has North Carolina ranked No. 15 overall. Miami, after poaching Duke quarterback Darian Mensah, was projected to win the ACC this season and is followed by SMU, Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech to round out the top five.

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Let's be honest: why would anyone have any faith in this team at this point?

For starters, year one under Bill Belichick was a huge disaster. From off-the-field drama surrounding Belichick to horrible performances on the football field, this mess isn't something that will just be fixed overnight.

If the recent Michael Lombardi administrative leave tells you anything, it's that this program is a mess from top to bottom right now.

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Sure, the roster has a ton of newcomers, 60 to be exact, but how many of them are quality football players who are ready to make an immediate impact? The answer is probably a handful of those newcomers, as there's not enough returning talent to even justify that the Tar Heels can rely on their veteran guys to carry the load.

Plus, the UNC football program's 2026 schedule is a brutal one that won't give them any favors.

The ACC Preseason Poll is justified in having little faith in the Tar Heels to make any noise on the gridiron this season. In fact, this season could be another ugly one for the football program, which could lead to some discussions about how long Belichick should remain at the helm in Chapel Hill.

While all the off-field nonsense is garnering all the attention, it obscures the fact that this team is less than a month away from opening its season in Ireland. Fans of other programs are counting down the days, hours and minutes until their team takes the field, while Tar Heel fans rightfully aren't getting their hopes up, looking to avoid another year of major disappointment that was sprung upon tham a season ago.

The good news is that at least UNC wasn't projected to finish dead last in the standings! There's some hope in that!

We do, however, want to know which media member predicted Stanford to finish in first place, going completely against the trend of the other media members who voted in this poll!

2026 ACC Football Predicted Order of Finish

1. Miami (165)
2. SMU (6)
3. Louisville (4)
4. Clemson (7)
5. Georgia Tech (2)
6. Virginia
7. NC State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Pitt
10. Duke
11. Florida State (3)
12. California
13. Wake Forest
14. Syracuse
15. North Carolina
16. Boston College
17. Stanford (1)

First-place votes in parentheses
188 media voters

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