You can never have another enough polls and power rankings. To that end, NC Football News has created our own set of measurements to add to the mix – the “Best In State” Power Rankings, a unique list that will headline the top 12 college programs in North Carolina regardless of division.
These rankings aren’t necessarily about who we think would win head-to-head. It’s more about what programs are making the biggest splash at their level of play.
We’ll use a couple of parameters: 1) No teams with losing records. Simple enough. And 2) We’ll make sure to include at least one school from each of the major divisions: FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III/NAIA/JUCO (unless there is no team with a winning record in that group). For the record, North Carolina has seven FBS teams, seven FCS teams, 14 D2 teams, 5 D3 teams, one NAIA team and one JUCO team.
Before we look ahead to 2023 (our preseason Best In State poll will appear later this summer), let’s review the 2022 campaign one last time. Here’s who was Best In State for ’22:
1. NC Central Eagles (10-2 FCS, 4-1 MEAC)
It’s hard to argue with a team tagged “national champions” at season’s end. Central earned the honor of HBCU National Champions following its 41-34 overtime win over previously unbeaten Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
Coach Trei Oliver’s team finished 17th in the AFCA Coaches Top 25 for FCS. The Eagles racked up a number of post-season honors, with defensive back Khalil Baker and offensive lineman Corey Bullock among those named to All-America teams.
Baker was the MEAC’s Defensive MVP, while quarterback Davius Richard earned offensive MVP honors. With players like Baker and Richard back this season – Central is listed as high as No. 13 in one preseason FCS poll – the Eagles could be contenders for our Best In State crown again in 2023.
2. Duke Blue Devils (9-4 FBS, 5-3 ACC)
Durham was the epicenter for a lot of football greatness last season. Not much was expected of the Blue Devils under first-year coach Mike Elko. ACC media voted Duke last in the Coastal Division in the preseason, the only team not to receive a first-place vote.
Elko’s bunch surprised in a big way and came within a few whiskers of earning the Coastal crown, a last-minute loss to Carolina and narrow defeats to Pitt and Georgia Tech blocking a chance for that prize.
So why do the Blue Devils get the nod over the Heels in this spot? A tough call. But Duke finished on a much stronger note, winning three of the last four after the UNC defeat, including an impressive 30-13 showing against UCF in the Military Bowl.
Did any team in the state exceed expectations more? The vibe coming out of Duke last season was as strong as any ACC team, champion Clemson included.
3. Wingate Bulldogs (11-3 D2, 7-2 SAC)
The Bulldogs wrote a Cinderella story, making the NCAA Division II quarterfinals as a No. 5 seed. Coach Joe Reich’s team rose up on defense in a pair of impressive playoff victories, beating fourth-seeded Virginia Union 32-7 and top-seeded Benedict 23-6.
Defense was the calling card all season. The ‘Dogs ranked second in NCAA Division II nationally in yards allowed (227.6) and first in tackles-for-loss (10.1 per game).
Five Wingate players made D2 All-America from the Associated Press – Ethan Evans, Davon Gilmore, Tre Morrison, DJ Horne and Evan Surgeon. The LA Rams drafted Evans in the seventh round, and he looks to be that team’s primary punter for 2023.
4. UNC Tar Heels (9-4 FBS, 6-2 ACC Coastal)
NC State or UNC in this spot? We went back and forth. The Wolfpack nipped the Heels in Chapel Hill on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But in the end, Carolina’s body of work gives them the nod – namely, that the Heels secured a Coastal Division title with several weeks to play (maybe they were coasting toward the end?) and played in their second ACC title game. The Pack was 4-4 in the ACC Atlantic.
Don’t forget, at one point UNC was 9-1 and on the fringes of College Football Playoff discussions. And quarterback Drake Maye was getting legitimate Heisman Trophy hype. That’s a pretty good splash and above expectations going into the season.
The defense proved the wildcard much of the season. The UNC ‘D’ bent a lot but managed to come up with key stops at the right time in many of those early wins. Alas, those stops didn’t happen in late losses to the Wolfpack, Georgia Tech and Oregon in the bowl game, somewhat tarnishing what otherwise was a better-than-expected season for the Heels.
5. NC State Wolfpack (8-5 FBS, 4-4 ACC Atlantic)
Wolfpack Nation has been mourning the loss of former coach Dick Sheridan, who passed away at age 81 earlier this month. Sheridan put the Wolfpack on solid footing in the 1980s and early 1990s, and in many ways, the program has never slipped back into the losing culture that existed before his arrival.
Is it too much to say that current coach Dave Doeren has been Sheridan-esque for the Pack in the modern era (which arguably is much tougher to succeed in)?
His overall winning percentage (72-54, .571) isn’t quite as high as Sheridan’s. But Doeren-led teams have been steady across the past decade, winning nine games three different times and eight games in three others. The Pack has only missed a bowl twice. They don’t quit no matter the circumstances, and they show up for games against in-state rivals.
Last season, the Wolfpack overcame major injury issues, especially at quarterback, to garner eight victories, including a very pride-inducing 30-27 triumph against the light blue team from Chapel Hill. Quarterback Ben Finley, way down on the depth chart to start the year, outdueled Drake Maye on that day, keeping bragging rights in Raleigh for another season. State also topped Wake Forest and ECU.
6. Fayetteville State Broncos (9-3 D2, 7-1 CIAA Southern)
The Broncos had come up short in four-straight CIAA championship games, dating back to 2017 (the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID). Finally coach Richard Hayes’s team broke through, beating Chowan 31-28 in a thrilling championship game in Salem, Va.
The contest came down to the last play. Kicker Elton Andrew booted a 43-yard field goal as time expired. It was the school’s first CIAA football trophy since 2009.
The Broncos lost only to Wingate and Virginia Union during the regular season. Both were Division II playoff teams, with Wingate going to the Elite Eight (see Bulldogs at No. 3 above). FSU went 4-0 on the road in the regular season. Eleven players went on to collect various CIAA post-season honors. Fayetteville State’s season came to end against No. 2 seeded Delta State in the playoffs.
7. Elon Phoenix (8-4 FCS, 6-2 CAA)
Elon may have been one of the most underappreciated seasons among standout North Carolina schools. After running through a gauntlet of a schedule, the Phoenix finished with eight wins, made the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2018 and garnered national rankings of No. 17 (Stats Perform Media Poll) and No. 18 (AFCA Coaches).
It was the second-highest program ranking since the school moved to FCS in 1999.
Coach Tony Trisciani’s team gave a preview of the success ahead by pushing Vanderbilt from the SEC in the opener before falling 42-31. Elon then won five straight, including victories over No. 14 William & Mary (the Tribe would end the season at No. 8) and No. 17 Richmond.
After losing a pair of games to ranked Rhode Island and New Hampshire, the Phoenix closed on a three-game winning streak to make the FCS playoffs, including a victory against No. 25 Delaware. Elon never lost at home a year ago. Two players earned All-American honors, LB/DB Marcus Hillman and kicker Skyler Davis.
8. Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (7-6 FCS, 5-0 Big South)
The Bulldogs overcame a 1-4 start and ended the regular season by hoisting the Big South’s championship trophy.
Coach Tre Lamb’s team didn’t stop there, earning a 52-41 FCS playoff win over Eastern Kentucky before falling to CAA champion William & Mary in the second round. G-W secured its first winning season since 2013 and earned its first Big South crown in nearly two decades. It played a December football game for the first time since the 1990s.
The ‘Dogs used a high-tempo offense and stout defense during their turn-around. They mustered eight games with 400-plus yards of total offense. Those goals may have seemed far-fetched after dropping four straight early in the year (to Coastal Carolina, Elon, Mercer and Marshall – all stout opponents).
It’s not surprising that Gardner-Webb dominated much of the Big South awards list. Quarterback Bailey Fisher was voted Offensive Player of the Year, End Ty French was named Defensive Player of the Year. Ty Anderson locked up Defensive Freshman of the Year. Lamb was Coach of the Year. And for good measure, William McRainey secured Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Last season may all have been a tune-up for this autumn. The Bulldogs return 19 starters from both sides of the ball – remember names like French, McRainey and Raequan Ousley, who have been tabbed preseason All-Americans – and are ranked as high as 22nd in early polls.
9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-5 FBS, 3-5 ACC Atlantic)
It has become somewhat routine in the Dave Clawson era – underestimate Wake Forest in the preseason, marvel at the Deacs’ overachieving results once the season concludes. The 2022 campaign followed a similar script.
With quarterback Sam Hartman slinging the ball all over the field (3,701 yards, 38 touchdowns by season’s end), Wake jumped to a 3-0 record before losing an absolute heartbreaker at home in double-overtime to Clemson, 51-45. What could have been had the Deacs been able to pull that one out? (Clemson never lost in ACC play).
Still, the deflating finish against the Tigers didn’t derail Clawson’s group. Wake whipped Florida State 31-21 in Tallahassee the next week and won two more games before stumbling some down the stretch (losing four out of the last five in the regular season). The Deacs made their Gasparilla Bowl appearance count, taking out Missouri 27-17.
10. East Carolina Pirates (8-5 FBS, 4-4 American Athletic)
The Pirates have been hungry for a winner since Ruffin McNeil roamed the sidelines in the mid-2010s and Lincoln Riley (now USC’s head man, via Oklahoma) called the offense. ECU endured six-straight losing seasons until coach Mike Houston got things turned around in 2021 with a 7-5 campaign.
Last season proved another step forward for Houston and the Pirates. Playing in its first post-season game since 2014, ECU dismantled a nine-win Coastal Carolina team, 53-29.
Quarterback Holton Ahlers, a Greenville native, capped a special career for his hometown college, throwing five touchdown passes (to four different receivers) and rushing for another score in his finale. He finished with nearly 14,000 passing yards over five seasons and 97 touchdowns. Wow, the stuff of local legend.
Running back Keaton Mitchell repeated as first-team All-American Athletic Conference. He ranked among the top backs in FCS, averaging 121 yards per game. He averaged more than 7.2 yards per carry, among the best in the nation.
11. Davidson Wildcats (8-4 FCS, 6-2 Pioneer)
The Wildcats can get overlooked as the lone North Carolina member in the coast-to-coast Pioneer League, which features mostly private schools. But coach Scott Abell’s team certainly produced results worthy of a spot in our rankings.
The Wildcats tied with Dayton at 6-2 in the Pioneer standings but won the head-to-head 24-23 on the final Saturday of the regular season. Since St. Thomas, moving up from Division III, was ineligible for the FCS playoffs, Davidson took its spot – its third-consecutive trip to the post-season.
Davidson led FCS in rushing – by a mile. The Wildcats averaged more than 331 yards on the ground per game, almost 20 yards ahead of the next team on the FCS list. Abell’s group also was efficient passing the ball, finishing first in FCS in passing-yards-per-completion at 16.64.
Led by fullback Coy Williams and offensive lineman Beck Kipperman, the Wildcats put a dozen players on Phil Steele/DraftScout FCS post-season all-conference teams.
12. Brevard Tornados (5-5 D3, 5-2 USA South)
Only two teams from NCAA Division III met our criteria of non-losing records. Brevard and Methodist both finished 5-5, and we’ll give the nod to the Tornados based on a 22-20 head-to-head victory in early October.
That game proved a barn-burner (in a season full of them throughout the state). Brevard made a goal-line stop on a two-point conversion attempt with under a minute to go to preserve the triumph. On Homecoming no less.
The Tornados overcame an 0-3 start to its season. A 41-27 triumph on the final Saturday pushed the final record to .500. All five wins came in conference play.
Honorable Mention
These teams received strong consideration for our top 12 list:
Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-6 FBS, 3-5 Sun Belt): It was hard to leave the Mountaineers out of the top 12 simply for the way the team captivated fans across the nation in September.
After nearly scalping UNC in a 63-61 thriller (look up the highlights on YouTube; they’ll leave you breathless), App State went to College Station and knocked off Texas A&M, 17-14. The next week, ESPN College Game Day came to Boone, and another barnburner of a game ensued, with ASU edging Troy, 32-28.
But with all the thrills, there were some spills, too. App gave up a 28-10 halftime lead to James Madison and fell 32-28. The team dropped out of bowl eligibility on the final day of the regular season, falling 51-48 in double overtime to rival Georgia Southern. ASU also suffered one score losses to Marshall and Coastal Carolina in league play. So close.
Chowan Hawks (7-4 D2, 7-1 CIAA Northern): Went 5-0 against Northern Division foes and came three points short of winning its first-ever CIAA championship. Quarterback Rashad McKee will be one to watch in ’23.
Mars Hill Lions (7-3 D2, 7-2 SAC Mountain): Advanced to the SAC championship game and led Newberry by 4 points in the fourth quarter, only to give up a late touchdown.
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (8-3 D2, 7-2 SAC Piedmont): The Bears went 4-0 away from home in 2022. A loaded roster will give the Hickory school a chance to make some noise in Division II this season – and in our Best In State rankings.
NC A&T Aggies (7-4 FCS, 4-1 Big South): The Aggies went a perfect 6-0 at home and overcame an 0-3 start to finish strong. Of course, those three early losses came against stellar competition (including the top two teams in our rankings) — Duke, NC Central and FCS runners-up North Dakota State. The only other loss was to Gardner-Webb, also in our top 12.
Methodist Monarchs (5-5 D3, 4-3 USA South): Finished the season on a two-game winning streak. Went 1-4 at home but a stellar 4-1 in road games.
