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1986 North Carolina

7–⁠4–⁠1 (5–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dick Crum.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1986, game by game: won vs. The Citadel 45–14; won at Kansas 20–0; tied at No. 15 Florida State 10–10; won vs. Georgia Tech 21–20; won at Wake Forest 40–30; lost vs. NC State 34–35; lost at No. 12 LSU 3–30; won vs. Maryland 32–30; lost at No. 20 Clemson 10–38; won vs. Virginia 27–7; won at Duke 42–35; lost vs. No. 16 Arizona 21–30+31−28Won 45–14 vs. The Citadel+31The CitadelWon 20–0 at Kansas+20KansasTied 10–10 at No. 15 Florida State0No. 15 Florida StateWon 21–20 vs. Georgia Tech+1Georgia TechWon 40–30 at Wake Forest+10Wake ForestLost 34–35 vs. NC State-1NC StateLost 3–30 at No. 12 LSU-27No. 12 LSUWon 32–30 vs. Maryland+2MarylandLost 10–38 at No. 20 Clemson-28No. 20 ClemsonWon 27–7 vs. Virginia+20VirginiaWon 42–35 at Duke+7DukeLost 21–30 vs. No. 16 Arizona-9No. 16 Arizona
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsThe CitadelW 45–⁠1480%
Sep 13atKansasW 20–⁠044%
Sep 20at15Florida StateT 10–⁠1032%
Oct 4vsGeorgia TechW 21–⁠2053%
Oct 11atWake ForestW 40–⁠3051%
Oct 18vsNC StateL 34–⁠3572%
Oct 25at12LSUL 3–⁠3029%
Nov 1vsMarylandW 32–⁠3051%
Nov 8at20ClemsonL 10–⁠3835%
Nov 15vsVirginiaW 27–⁠770%
Nov 22atDukeW 42–⁠3563%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvs16ArizonaAloha BowlL 21–⁠3038%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona 30–⁠21 in the Aloha Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The tied 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 18

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1986.

Record
7–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
305–⁠279
Coach
Dick Crum
Elo
1544 +55 this season
SP+ rating
6.6 No. 40 of 101; offense No. 36, defense No. 52
SRS
4.7 No. 38 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Walter Bailey

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 1Harris Barton OTSan Francisco 49ers

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson5–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠217
NC State5–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
North Carolina5–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Georgia Tech3–⁠35–⁠5–⁠1
Maryland2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Wake Forest2–⁠55–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠53–⁠8

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