What bowl game is UNC projected to in very early projections?

The UNC football team isn’t projected to make the expanded, 2024 College Football Playoff. Where will the Tar Heels go, exactly?

March Madness is just under a month away – prepare to have all your streaming devices set up, workplace productivity decrease and the only thing coming out of your mouth to be, “How is my bracket doing?”

College football season doesn’t start until six months, on the other hand, but it’s never too early to start making projections.

If there’s been one issue with college football in the past, it’s that the same four teams always seem to make the College Football Playoff. You can count on Alabama, Georgia and either Ohio State or Michigan being there, then one random team.

Good news – that all comes to an end this fall, as the CFP is expanding to 12 teams.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, despite this news, are not projected to make the new CFP.  They are still projected to make a bowl game, according to Action Newtork, against ACC newcomer Cal.

UNC is predicted to play in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, home to the UTEP (University of Texas-El Paso) Miners. North Carolina has gone 2-3 in the Sun Bowl overall, with its most recent appearance being a 25-23 loss to Stanford in 2016.

The 2024 Tar Heels squad has a few guarantees: Omarion Hampton will return as arguably the best running back in college football, Kaimon Rucker will be a much-needed presence on an otherwise-subpar defensive unit and Noah Burnette, who shined as a reliable kicking presence when Ryan Coe went out with an injury, should be amongst the top returning kickers.

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Ranking the opponents on UNC’s 2024 football opponents

No football game is easy for the North Carolina Tar Heels. We rank the difficult of their 2024 opponents in this article.

Let’s get one thing settled before we dive into UNC’s football schedule: no game is ever easy for the Tar Heels.

We saw that midway through the 2023 campaign, when North Carolina lost an easy matchup against then-1-win UVA. UNC traveled to Atlanta the following week, facing a Georgia Tech team it also should’ve beaten, but allowed the Yellow Jackets to gain first downs on seemingly every play and score on most of their drives.

On paper, the Tar Heels have a significantly easier schedule this year. They open the season with a tough opponent, playing on the road against a solid, Big 10 program in Minnesota that’s made bowl games in five of its last seven seasons, then return to Chapel Hill and face UNC-Charlotte, NC Central and James Madison. None of those three homes games feature a Power 5 opponent, which could be detrimental when determining future rankings.

UNC in a College Football Playoff ranking? That’s cute – and we’re all Tar Heel fans over here. If North Carolina enjoys any early success in 2024, don’t be surprised to see a signature, late-season collapse.

With the schedule being out, which is very home-heavy early and road-heavy deeper into ACC play, we’re going to rank UNC’s 2024 opponents from toughest to weakest.

Social media reacts to UNC Football’s 2024 schedule

The 2024 UNC football schedule was released on Wednesday, giving fans an early look at who their beloved Tar Heels will be playing.

Wednesday was an exciting day for every ACC football team, as 2024 season schedules were released.

Schools don’t know times yet, but they do at least know the days and opponents they’ll be playing.

UNC will begin its 2024 football season on the road, traveling to Minneapolis on Thursday, Aug. 29 for its second-ever matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. When Minnesota came to Kenan Stadium last year, the Tar Heel defense limited former quarterback Athas Kaliakmanis to just 10 completions, while Drake Maye enjoyed his first of two 400-passing yard performances.

North Carolina then returns home for a Saturday, Sept. 7 clash with UNC-Charlotte, the two programs’ inaugural matchup against each other. This will kick off a stretch of three-consecutive home games for the Tar Heels, who end their long homestand with a 2016 rematch against Sun Belt opponent James Madison.

UNC heads to Durham on Saturday, Sept. 28 to take on Duke. For anyone who remembers last year’s game, the Tar Heels escaped in double-overtime.

After returning home to host Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech (Oct. 5 and 12), Carolina doesn’t play another home game until Saturday, Nov. 16 against Wake Forest. UNC will end its regular season against hated rival NC State, whose head coach said some questionable things about the Tar Heels.

Let’s react to the Tar Heels’ full schedule, which also includes games against Florida State, Virginia and Boston College: