With spring practices and games in the books, the wait for the college football season continues. As it does this time of year, ESPN updated its SP+ rankings last week.
Bill Connelly made the post-spring update to the rankings that take into account returning production, recent recruiting and recent history. North Carolina sits just outside the top 25 at No. 28.
UNC earned an SP+ of 13.5 behind No. 27 Auburn (13.7), No. 26 Arkansas (13.8) and No. 25 Mississippi State (14.1).
The Tar Heels earned an SP+ rating of 38.8 on offense which ranked No. 15 in the country. That’s largely because of Drake Maye’s return; he’s a Heisman contender.
On defense, UNC earned a rating of 25.3 which was 55th. The defense really struggled a year ago under Gene Chizik, and there is a great deal of turnover on that side of the ball, specifically in the secondary.
These rankings will be updated throughout the rest of the year.
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