5 college football teams that won’t be as good as you think in 2023
By John Buhler
Drake Maye may be elite, but the North Carolina defense backing him up is not
The ACC may have been down the last two years, but it does have a few teams that will be College Football Playoff viable. Those teams would include its reigning dynasty Clemson, traditional power on the come-up Florida State and good, ole North Carolina. The Tar Heels have a potential Heisman Trophy winner quarterback in Drake Maye, but man, is their defense absolutely horrific.
No, this will not stop Maye from getting to New York in early December and being at top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, UNC is not ready to be a 10-win team this season. A big issue the Heels have to navigate is the ACC going divisionless. Factor in they end the season with Duke, Clemson and North Carolina State, and good luck with that. They will be lucky to win two of them.
Ultimately, North Carolina will have our collective attention next year for three reasons. They were a division champion a year ago, we like Mack Brown as a head coach and Maye is an absolute rockstar at quarterback. However, North Carolina’s stock entering the 2023 campaign is largely inflated. It is why Clemson and Florida State are way more likely to make the playoff over them.
We have seen a quarterback of a three-loss ACC team win the Heisman before in Lamar Jackson.