What’s the best college football team in North and South Carolina? We rank all 10 weekly
Well, seems like they’re actually going to play a college football season. No, really. It’s actually going to happen. Is it a good idea? Is it the right thing, from an ethical and moral and even legal point of view, for multi-million dollar enterprises (these schools’ athletic departments, and their conferences) to send unpaid players out onto the field in the midst of a global pandemic that hasn’t really shown tremendous signs of abating?
Debatable. More than a little debatable.
But what’s debatable no longer is that they’re going to play. In parts elsewhere, the 2020 college football season has already started — (mostly) empty stadiums, socially-distanced bands, face-masked coaching staffs and all. It starts in the Carolinas this week, and with some tasty match-ups. (The renewal of the budding city-mountain town rivalry between Charlotte and Appalachian State, anyone? Yes, please. Wake Forest-Clemson? Poor Deacs.)
Who knows what will happen between now and the end of the month, when South Carolina and East Carolina are set to start their seasons Sept. 26. Will the pandemic allow the season to reach October? Will players and coaches remain relatively virus-free? Will the weirdest experiment in modern college football history endure? Stay tuned. Answers will present themselves soon enough. For now, there’s a season upon us, and an occasion and purpose to rank things.
Without further delay: The 2020 preseason All-Carolinas College Football Poll, as voted upon by a panel of 16 distinguished sports journalists on the staffs of the Charlotte Observer, The News & Observer, The State, The Herald and The Sun-News.
Take it away, pollsters:
1. Clemson (16 first-place votes)
Surprise! OK, maybe not. Only question is whether Clemson’s second team would finish first in this poll. Answer: probably.
2. North Carolina
Another one of those “only in 2020” kind of things: UNC has its worst men’s basketball season in ages, while football hype is at mid-90s levels. Seems justified, too.
3. Appalachian State
It says something about the state of Duke, NC State and Wake Forest that App has clearly surpassed all among in-state programs. Also says App is really dang good.
4. South Carolina
Things are looking up in Columbia: The offense should be better with new coordinator Mike Bobo. Defense returns a decent amount. And guaranteed not to lose against Clemson. Tigers aren’t on the schedule this year, but let’s not pick nits.
5. Wake Forest
Replacing Jamie Newman with Sam Hartman isn’t the worst trade-off. But who is he going to throw the ball to with Sage Surratt (wisely) preparing for the NFL Draft? And, oh: Here’s Clemson in Week 1. Have fun.
6. NC State
A serious question: Does being in the middle of a pandemic, and at the start of what’s sure to be a weird college football season, relieve the pressure on Dave Doeren, or not so much ... ?
7. Duke
Stop already with your jokes about how the Blue Devils are used to playing in front of an empty Wallace-Wade Stadium. In all seriousness, Duke becomes an answer to a cool trivia question as Notre Dame’s first conference opponent.
8. East Carolina
Between 2007 and 2014, the Pirates averaged about eight wins and went to seven bowls. No winning seasons since. Mike Houston still has quite the rebuild ahead of him, but if you looked closely last year, there were some encouraging signs.
9. Charlotte
It’s easy to get the sense that Will Healy is building something special, but don’t be surprised if the record doesn’t necessarily reflect it this year. The schedule’s more of a beast, but the ride should continue to be fun.
10. Coastal Carolina
Don’t look now, but the Chanticleers might just have their best team since moving up to the FBS in 2017. Might their first FBS winning season follow? Possible. It’d be a delight, at the least, if Coastal beat Kansas on the road again this weekend.
Voting panel: Andrew Carter, Luke Decock, CL Brown, Todd Adams, Jonas Pope, Jessaca Giglio, Chip Alexander, Al Blondin, Alex Zietlow, Ben Breiner, Michael Lananna, Matt Connolly, Greg Hadley, Dwayne McLemore, Rick Bonnell, David Scott, Matt L. Stephens
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 2:11 PM.