CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 North Carolina

10–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mack Brown, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1996, game by game: won vs. Clemson 45–0; won at No. 9 Syracuse 27–10; won vs. Georgia Tech 16–0; lost at No. 2 Florida State 0–13; won at Wake Forest 45–6; won vs. Maryland 38–7; won at Houston 42–14; won vs. NC State 52–20; won vs. Louisville 28–10; lost at No. 24 Virginia 17–20; won at Duke 27–10; won vs. No. 25 West Virginia 20–13+45−13Won 45–0 vs. Clemson+45ClemsonWon 27–10 at No. 9 Syracuse+17No. 9 SyracuseWon 16–0 vs. Georgia Tech+16Georgia TechLost 0–13 at No. 2 Florida State-13No. 2 Florida StateWon 45–6 at Wake Forest+39Wake ForestWon 38–7 vs. Maryland+31MarylandWon 42–14 at Houston+28HoustonWon 52–20 vs. NC State+32NC StateWon 28–10 vs. Louisville+18LouisvilleLost 17–20 at No. 24 Virginia-3No. 24 VirginiaWon 27–10 at Duke+17DukeWon 20–13 vs. No. 25 West Virginia+7No. 25 West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsClemsonW 45–⁠056%
Sep 7at9SyracuseW 27–⁠1039%
Sep 21vsGeorgia TechW 16–⁠070%
Sep 28at2Florida StateL 0–⁠1331%
Oct 5atWake ForestW 45–⁠678%
Oct 12vsMarylandW 38–⁠782%
Oct 26atHoustonW 42–⁠1472%
Nov 2vsNC StateW 52–⁠2085%
Nov 9vsLouisvilleW 28–⁠1075%
Nov 16at24VirginiaL 17–⁠2050%
Nov 23atDukeW 27–⁠1087%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs25West VirginiaGator BowlW 20–⁠1363%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat West Virginia 20–⁠13 in the Gator Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 24
  2. Wk 4: 12
  3. Wk 5: 11
  4. Wk 6: 11
  5. Wk 7: 15
  6. Wk 8: 13
  7. Wk 9: 11
  8. Wk 10: 9
  9. Wk 11: 8
  10. Wk 12: 8
  11. Wk 13: 6
  12. Wk 14: 13
  13. Wk 15: 13
  14. Wk 16: 13
  15. Wk 17: 12
  16. Final: 10

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 1996.

Consensus All-AmericanDré Bly, CB

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 6
Points
357–⁠123
Coach
Mack Brown
Elo
1694 +144 this season
SP+ rating
24.1 No. 7 of 111; offense No. 37, defense No. 1
SRS
21.2 No. 6 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Greg Davis
Defensive coordinator
Carl Torbush
Captains
Greg Ellis, James Hamilton, Leon Johnson, Freddie Jones, Chris Keldorf and Jeff Saturday
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 2Rick Terry DTNew York Jets
Rd 2Freddie Jones TESan Diego Chargers
Rd 3James Hamilton LBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Leon Johnson RBNew York Jets
Rd 5Andre Purvis DTCincinnati Bengals

All-ACC

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina6–⁠210–⁠210
Clemson6–⁠27–⁠5
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠5
Georgia Tech4–⁠45–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
NC State3–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠73–⁠8
Duke0–⁠80–⁠11

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