After enjoying their second bye week of the 2024 college football season, the North Carolina Tar Heels are preparing to host Wake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 15.
UNC (5-4, 2-3 ACC) comes out of its Week 11 bye in great shape. North Carolina is winners of its past two games: dominating Virginia by a 41-14 mark on October 26, then smacking Florida State by a 35-11 mark on Nov. 2.
The Tar Heels didn’t face those same fortunes entering their Week 8 bye, dealing with a fourth-straight loss to Georgia Tech.
Even though UNC didn’t play last weekend, its positioning slipped a bit in USA Today’s Week 11 re-rank of all 134 FBS team. North Carolina slipped three spots, going from 60th to 63rd.
As a result of their small drop, the Tar Heels found themselves sandwiched between West Virginia (62) and Rutgers (64). WVU lost to Iowa State by 12 at home, while Rutgers was destroyed in a 42-7 loss to Wisconsin.
I wouldn’t be too concerned with UNC’s fall, as there were plenty of marquee games over the weekend. We saw Ole Miss upset Georgia, Alabama smoke LSU in Baton Rouge and Indiana remain undefeated – after a close win against Michigan.
North Carolina was in the bottom half of USA Today’s re-rank earlier this year, but that quickly changed with blowout victory in each of North Carolina’s last two games. The Tar Heels will have an opportunity to climb the rankings further if they beat Wake Forest, though their in-state rivals are hungry to move one step closer to bowl eligibility.
UNC, on the other hand, only needs one victory to extend its bowl streak. Get ready for Saturday: it’s the first 2024 night game at Kenan Stadium.
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