July 26, 2004

by David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com

GREENSBORO -- North Carolina didn't garner much support from the Atlantic Coast Conference media today after a pair of poor seasons, finishing with its lowest preseason ranking ever in the newly expanded 11-team league.

The Tar Heels, 3-9 and 2-10 the last two years, were picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll released at the ACC Football Kickoff, ahead of only Duke.

The program's previous worst preseason prediction was seventh in 1990.

Coach John Bunting said he wasn't bothered by the low expectations entering his fourth season in Chapel Hill.

"I'm excited about the focus and direction of our football program," Bunting said. "We've had two top-20 recruiting classes in a row. We've got a lot of momentum.

"We've got a great schedule and I want to see improvement in our football program," Bunting added. "I came back to college ball from the NFL because I wanted to do something special and I wanted to do it at the university where I went to school."

Bunting said the ACC additions of Miami and Virginia Tech - two teams the Tar Heels will play at Kenan Stadium in consecutive weeks -- won't necessarily make his team's push to the top of the league any harder.

"This is a great football conference and it was very good before," Bunting said. "But we've been playing Texas, we've been playing Oklahoma, we're played at Wisconsin and we've played at Syracuse. We're used to playing great teams. The challenge is exciting for our team, for me and our staff."

The Tar Heels are much more experienced this season after having played 13 true freshmen in 2003 - the most in the ACC.

North Carolina will start six seniors on offense, including star quarterback Darian Durant. However, the school's all-time passing leader has seen the Tar Heels win just five of their last 24 games.

"Nobody likes to lose. Anybody can go out there and lose. And being on the verge of winning on a number of occasions last year and then being closed out in the end was frustrating to our young players," Bunting said. "It's important for us as a staff and as a football program to look at all the good things that took place last year and then try to enhance them."

Florida State was picked ahead of Miami to win the ACC crown, followed by Virginia, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.

Bunting did get a bunch of laughs when he asked the media if they knew of any big-time program that had ever scheduled Miami for a homecoming game.

"I know the answer to that question," Bunting said.