North Carolina, Duke, NC State and Wake Forest, known as the “Big Four” to many North Carolinians, have been fellow members of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the entire 70-year existence of that league. During those seven decades of football, the Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Wolfpack and Demon Deacons have never all posted winning records in the same season.

More than halfway through college football’s 2022 campaign, however, that unpleasant, long-running, in-state gridiron trend finally may be coming to an end.

This week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll has Wake Forest at #10, UNC at #21 and NC State at #24. This season marks the first time since 1994 that three members of the Big Four have been ranked in the AP football poll at the same time. There has never been a football poll — in any week of any season — with all four members of the Big Four in the Top 25.

With Duke’s impressive 45-21 victory at Miami this weekend, the surprising Blue Devils improved their record to 5-3, leaving them just one win short of bowl eligibility with four regular-season games remaining. It would be shocking if 6-1 Wake Forest, 6-1 UNC and 5-2 NC State didn’t also end up in bowl games this season. If the Big Four goes 4-for-4 in postseason participation on the gridiron, that would be a first.

For the record, even if you go all the way back to the 1880s, when the Big Four universities started playing football, you will find one — and only one — example of all four teams finishing with winning records in the same season.

The year was 1947, and the schools were fellow members of the Southern Conference at the time. UNC finished 8-2, Wake Forest 6-4, NC State 5-3-1 and Duke 4-3-2. There weren’t many bowls back then, so nobody in this group played in the postseason, although the Tar Heels finished with a #9 national ranking.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown

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