Countdown to Kickoff: The Preseason Top 50—No. 32 North Carolina Tar Heels

The 2009 college football season will kick off in a couple of weeks. To make the time go a little faster, I have been counting down my top 50 teams one team at a time.

No. 33  Florida State Seminoles

No. 32  North Carolina Tar Heels

The ACC should be put on notice.

In just two seasons, Butch Davis has turned the Tar Heels football program from afterthought to contender. He is doing it the same way he did it when building the powerhouse Miami teams that dominated the early part of this decade.

Davis has hit the recruiting trail. Hard.

North Carolina has pulled in back-to-back star-studded class full of four and five-star talents.

Not so long ago those same players would have never given North Carolina a second thought as they tripped over themselves to get to Blacksburg, Miami, or Tallahassee. Now, they are staying in Carolina and the expectations for the Tar Heels football program is growing.

The future is bright, but the present is still young and very inexperienced.

The 2008 Tar Heels were not exactly offensive juggernauts and 2009 could be much of the same.

Carolina must replace NFL caliber receivers Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, Richard Quinn, and Brooks Foster and while the next generation of Tar Heel receivers is brimming with potential, they are very young and very, very inconsistent.

Junior Greg Little is the receiving corps veteran and he got more reps as a running back than a receiver in 2008.

Big things will be expected from sophomore Dwight Jones, a big, tough receiver who is not afraid to take on the linebacker over the middle and junior Zack Pianalto, a tight end, H-back hybrid.

Carolina doesn't have the best defense in the ACC, but no one in the league has a better collection of fast and athletic talent.

Last season defensive coordinator Everett Withers had to use blitzes and trickery to get to the quarterback and registered just 11 sacks on the season. This season all five starting lineman return and tackle Marvin Austin is red to make a national impact.

The secondary takes a hit with the loss of Trimane Goddard, junior Da'Norris Searcy seems more than ready to fill the void.

All in all, the defense returns nine starters and has all the ingredients to carry the program a long way.

Can the Heels rise up and win the league?

It’s possible, but they’re still a rung below Virginia Tech in the Coastal Division, and must travel to Blacksburg in October.

It’s all about progress and taking the proverbial next step. Davis and company are building toward 2010, when the program could be the favorite to win a crown and play in a BCS bowl game.