UNC football outside of Top 25 in ESPNs SP+ rankings

Here’s a look at where the UNC football program lands in ESPN’s initial SP+ rankings for the 2023 season.

There’s a long way to go until the 2023 college football season as we still have Spring games and an entire Summer before the action gets underway.

But it’s never too early to look ahead at what analysts think about Mack Brown’s Tar Heels.

On Tuesday, ESPN released its SP+ rankings for the 2023 season, using a formula that includes returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history giving out rankings for overall, offense and defense. For the Tar Heels, they checked in at No. 28 overall, missing out on the Top 25.

Here is a look at their ratings:

  • Offense 39.4 (13)
  • Defense 26.3 (62)
  • Overall 13 (28)

As you can see above, ESPN’s SP+ believes that the Tar Heels’ offense is much better than the defense, giving them a rating of 39.4 which is 13th overall. That’s headlined by the return of quarterback Drake Maye as well as some more additions to the offense.

Defensively, UNC lost a lot to the transfer portal and will have to fill that void this season. That’s why the number is lower on that side of the football.

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