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1973 North Carolina

4–⁠7 (1–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Dooley.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1973, game by game: won vs. William & Mary 34–27; lost vs. Maryland 3–23; lost vs. No. 20 Missouri 14–27; lost at NC State 26–28; won at Kentucky 16–10; lost at No. 17 Tulane 0–16; won vs. East Carolina 28–27; lost at Virginia 40–44; lost vs. Clemson 29–37; won vs. Wake Forest 42–0; lost at Duke 10–27+42−20Won 34–27 vs. William & Mary+7William & MaryLost 3–23 vs. Maryland-20MarylandLost 14–27 vs. No. 20 Missouri-13No. 20 MissouriLost 26–28 at NC State-2NC StateWon 16–10 at Kentucky+6KentuckyLost 0–16 at No. 17 Tulane-16No. 17 TulaneWon 28–27 vs. East Carolina+1East CarolinaLost 40–44 at Virginia-4VirginiaLost 29–37 vs. Clemson-8ClemsonWon 42–0 vs. Wake Forest+42Wake ForestLost 10–27 at Duke-17Duke
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsWilliam & MaryW 34–⁠2777%
Sep 22vsMarylandL 3–⁠2381%
Sep 29vs20MissouriL 14–⁠2766%
Oct 6atNC StateL 26–⁠2839%
Oct 13atKentuckyW 16–⁠1053%
Oct 20at17TulaneL 0–⁠1638%
Oct 27vsEast CarolinaW 28–⁠2756%
Nov 3atVirginiaL 40–⁠4467%
Nov 10vsClemsonL 29–⁠3769%
Nov 17vsWake ForestW 42–⁠082%
Nov 24atDukeL 10–⁠2761%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Duke 27–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 103rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 19
Record
4–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠5 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
242–⁠266
Coach
Bill Dooley
Elo
1456 −168 this season
SP+ rating
-0.6 No. 76 of 123; offense No. 51, defense No. 81
SRS
1.2 No. 63 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Sammy Johnson and Terry Taylor

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 3Robert Pratt OGBaltimore Colts
Rd 4Sammy Johnson RBSan Francisco 49ers

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
NC State6–⁠09–⁠316
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠420
Clemson4–⁠25–⁠6
Virginia3–⁠34–⁠7
Duke1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
North Carolina1–⁠54–⁠7
Wake Forest0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.