The No. 7 North Carolina baseball team — one of eight ACC teams ranked in the preseason poll — was picked as the favorites to win the Coastal Division by the coaches’ poll after winning the division last season.
But the team's schedule won't do it any favors.
When North Carolina kicks off its season against South Florida this weekend, it’ll begin a tough schedule that features seven preseason top-35 opponents and nine teams who participated in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
"Our players are excited about the opportunity to compete against one of the toughest schedules I can remember," head coach Mike Fox said. "We will be traveling more than ever this season. And, as always, our 30 league games will be very challenging as the ACC will once again be one of the nation's toughest conferences.”
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Last season, the Tar Heels finished the season with a program-best 23 conference wins and 10 league series wins. They entered postseason play as a No. 2 seed likely to advance to the College World Series — but they fell apart in regionals and were swept by Davidson to end the season.
This time around, North Carolina will have another stacked schedule with series against six of the seven ranked ACC teams — No. 14 Louisville, No. 4 Florida State, No. 18 Virginia, No. 26 Miami, No. 28 N.C. State and No. 31 Duke — along with a non-conference game against No. 32 South Carolina.
A season ago, the Tar Heels finished with a 14-5 record against their ranked opponents. This season, the Seminoles are the only team on the Tar Heels' schedule currently ranked above them.
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