North Carolina, Clemson & Miami ranked in AP preseason Top 25

Greensboro, NC – No. 3 Clemson, No. 10 North Carolina and No. 14 Miami are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll released Monday.

The Tigers, who posted a 10-2 record last season while earning a postseason playoff berth for the sixth consecutive year, received six first-place votes and 1,447 points to place behind No. 1 Alabama (1,548) and No. 2 Oklahoma (1,462). Clemson was the overwhelming pick to win its seventh consecutive ACC title in a preseason vote of 147 media members at the ACC Kickoff last month. The Tigers have been ranked in 103 consecutive AP polls, the second-longest active streak in the country.

Projected to win the ACC’s Coastal Division, North Carolina earned its best preseason ranking since being No. 7 in 1997 during coach Mack Brown’s first stint with the Tar Heels. Carolina finished last season 8-4 overall and 22nd in the country.  

Miami finished last year with an 8-3 mark and will face No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 4 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.