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1997 North Carolina

11–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mack Brown, then Carl Torbush (interim, bowl game), finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1997, game by game: won vs. Indiana 23–6; won vs. No. 17 Stanford 28–17; won at Maryland 40–14; won vs. Virginia 48–20; won at TCU 31–10; won vs. Wake Forest 30–12; won at NC State 20–7; won at Georgia Tech 16–13; lost vs. No. 3 Florida State 3–20; won at Clemson 17–10; won vs. Duke 50–14; won vs. Virginia Tech 42–3+39−17Won 23–6 vs. Indiana+17IndianaWon 28–17 vs. No. 17 Stanford+11No. 17 StanfordWon 40–14 at Maryland+26MarylandWon 48–20 vs. Virginia+28VirginiaWon 31–10 at TCU+21TCUWon 30–12 vs. Wake Forest+18Wake ForestWon 20–7 at NC State+13NC StateWon 16–13 at Georgia Tech+3Georgia TechLost 3–20 vs. No. 3 Florida State-17No. 3 Florida StateWon 17–10 at Clemson+7ClemsonWon 50–14 vs. Duke+36DukeWon 42–3 vs. Virginia Tech+39Virginia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsIndianaW 23–⁠679%
Sep 13vs17StanfordW 28–⁠1768%
Sep 20atMarylandW 40–⁠1473%
Sep 27vsVirginiaW 48–⁠2074%
Oct 4atTCUW 31–⁠1081%
Oct 11vsWake ForestW 30–⁠1290%
Oct 18atNC StateW 20–⁠775%
Oct 30atGeorgia TechW 16–⁠1368%
Nov 8vs3Florida StateL 3–⁠2048%
Nov 15atClemsonW 17–⁠1061%
Nov 22vsDukeW 50–⁠1493%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsVirginia TechGator BowlW 42–⁠366%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Virginia Tech 42–⁠3 in the Gator Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1997.

3 consensus All-AmericansGreg Ellis, DL; Brian Simmons, LB; Dré Bly, CB

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 4
Points
348–⁠146
Coach
Mack Brown, then Carl Torbush (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1740 +111 this season
SP+ rating
20.5 No. 14 of 112; offense No. 41, defense No. 3
SRS
19.1 No. 9 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Greg Davis
Defensive coordinator
Carl Torbush
Captains
Greg Ellis, Vonnie Holliday, Jonathan Linton, Jeff Saturday and Brian Simmons
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1Greg Ellis DEDallas Cowboys
Rd 1Brian Simmons LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 1Vonnie Holliday DEGreen Bay Packers
Rd 4Omar Brown DBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 4Kivuusama Mays LBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Robert Williams DBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Jonathan Linton RBBuffalo Bills

All-ACC

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina7–⁠111–⁠16
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠4
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠525
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠5
NC State3–⁠56–⁠5
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠6
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠9

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