The North Carolina Tar Heels will open up the 2023 college football season as a ranked team.
On Monday, the first Associated Press Top 25 poll was released for the preseason and the Tar Heels managed to crack the Top 25. UNC checked in at No. 21 in the poll after being unranked to start the year last season.
UNC is one of three programs from the Atlantic Coast Conference to be ranked in the opening poll joining No. 8 Florida State and No. 9 Clemson.
The Tar Heels will open the season in Charlotte in Week 1 against South Carolina who went unranked in the poll but did receive votes. The last time UNC opened the year ranked was back in 2021 checking in at No. 9 but were upset in Week 1 by Virginia Tech.
A look at the full AP Top 25 poll:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Georgia | 0-0 | 1,572 (60) | – |
| 2 | Michigan | 0-0 | 1,490 (2) | – |
| 3 | Ohio State | 0-0 | 1,400 (1) | – |
| 4 | Alabama | 0-0 | 1,398 | – |
| 5 | LSU | 0-0 | 1,276 | – |
| 6 | USC | 0-0 | 1,245 | – |
| 7 | Penn State | 0-0 | 1,177 | – |
| 8 | Florida State | 0-0 | 1,147 | – |
| 9 | Clemson | 0-0 | 1,032 | – |
| 10 | Washington | 0-0 | 977 | – |
| 11 | Texas | 0-0 | 882 | – |
| 12 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 868 | – |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 0-0 | 863 | – |
| 14 | Utah | 0-0 | 811 | – |
| 15 | Oregon | 0-0 | 732 | – |
| 16 | Kansas State | 0-0 | 501 | – |
| 17 | TCU | 0-0 | 416 | – |
| 18 | Oregon State | 0-0 | 406 | – |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 386 | – |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 0-0 | 296 | – |
| 21 | North Carolina | 0-0 | 292 | – |
| 22 | Miss | 0-0 | 281 | – |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 0-0 | 227 | – |
| 24 | Tulane | 0-0 | 224 | – |
| 25 | Iowa | 0-0 | 131 | – |
Others Receiving Votes
Texas Tech 101, South Carolina 73, UCLA 66, UTSA 64, Arkansas 22, Boise St. 17, Pittsburgh 16, Kentucky 14, Louisville 10, Troy 10, Kansas 10, Auburn 7, Minnesota 6, Toledo 4, Duke 4, Mississippi St. 4, Florida 4, Illinois 3, Baylor 3, Coastal Carolina 3, South Alabama 1, NC State 1, James Madison 1, Liberty 1.
The next poll will be released in early September after the first week of games.
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