This UNC football game in November could impact College Football Playoff

The upcoming UNC football game against Wake Forest was labeled as one to watch in terms of the College Football Playoff race.

With the month of November here, the college football regular season is winding down and the march to bowl season is on.

For the UNC football program, they made its debut in the College Football Playoff rankings as the No. 17 team in the country. With a 7-1 record overall, UNC is a Notre Dame loss away from having an argument of being in the Top 10.

The good news for the Tar Heels is that they have some time to work their way up the rankings, as they did back in the 2015 season. And as of now, they have at least two matchups that could help their case plus potentially a date with Clemson in the ACC title game.

Following the release of the rankings, the USA TODAY Sports released a list of games that will impact the race in November. And next week’s game at Wake Forest is among them:

As in 2015, when North Carolina came out of obscurity during the second half to make a playoff push, the Tar Heels are lurking on the outskirts of the conversation with just one loss. To stay that way and potentially set up an ACC championship game matchup against Clemson that could be a playoff decider, UNC has to get past Sam Hartman and the two-loss Demon Deacons in what will almost certainly be a shootout.

If UNC wants any shot at cracking the top 10 or getting higher, winning out in these final four games is a must. If they do that, they would set up a showdown with Clemson in what could be a highly-ranked game.

But let’s take it one game at a time and focus on Virginia for now.

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