North Carolina Football: 3 takeaways from Orange Bowl loss to Texas A&M

1. North Carolina should be 2021 favorite in ACC Coastal

You might have forgotten, but the ACC actually has two divisions and Notre Dame is not actually in the conference either.

In a normal year, the Tar Heels would have played Clemson in the ACC title game for the first time since 2015 and that would have been a huge accomplishment for the program.

With Howell returning and back to back top recruiting classes, North Carolina should be the favorites to win the Coastal division. The main competition should be Miami with D’Eriq King, but Mack Brown is 2-0 vs. Manny Diaz, King is now injured and North Carolina throttled the Hurricanes this past season.

With a manageable schedule and Howell, expect North Carolina to start in the top 25 next season and contend in the ACC.