North Carolina finally cracked the top 25 of the College Football Playoff rankings, but at 8-1 and fresh off a 35-point victory over a previously well-regarded Duke team, the Tar Heels’ No. 23 ranking is probably still a bit worse than they might’ve hoped.

So what’s keeping UNC from getting any love from the CFP selection committee? The answer is probably the schedule.

While a dominant win over Duke, a road win over Pitt and a thumping of Illinois offer some indication of just how dangerous UNC is, the committee is probably focusing on a few holes in the Heels’ schedule -- the first of which is two FCS teams on the slate.

North Carolina's 66-31 win over Duke last weekend finally got the Tar Heels into the College Football Playoff rankings, but only at No. 23 despite an 8-1 record. Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

First off, let’s be clear that UNC didn’t want to schedule two FCS teams, but the school has been forced to scramble to replace Power 5 opponents that canceled nonconference series in recent years. That left few options, and playing a second FCS school became the simplest (and cheapest) solution.

But the bigger question is: Should it even matter?

Take a look at the performance of these three groups vs. Power 5 opponents this season:

GROUP A: .000 win percentage, 35.41 average margin of defeat

GROUP B: .000 win percentage, 35.57 average margin of defeat

GROUP C: .043 win percentage, 33.94 average margin of defeat

It’s fair to say UNC would’ve thumped a team from any of those three groups, right?

Group A is the Sun Belt, an FBS league. Group B is Kansas, a Power 5 team. And Group C -- the one that performed the best -- is FCS teams.

In other words, drawing a line of distinction for UNC based strictly on classification is foolish. The outcomes would’ve likely been the same either way, so in terms of strength of resume, beating up on Delaware (3-5 in FCS play) and North Carolina A&T (8-0 in FCS play) is no different than beating up on New Mexico State or Kansas.

It’s also worth noting that North Carolina is one of just nine Power 5 schools (four of which are in the ACC) to have already played two Power 5 teams out of conference, so the intent to challenge itself was certainly there. In fact, if we look at the win-loss records of Power 5 foes, UNC’s is .500 -- certainly not great but better than Oklahoma State, Baylor or Oklahoma and just a tick behind Ohio State, Florida State and TCU. (The great irony of Duke's controversial loss to Miami is that, by virtue of taking away UNC's only shot at a regular-season win over a team ranked by the CFP committee, it may end up hurting the Tar Heels more than the Blue Devils.)

But then we get to the real problem. Game 1. South Carolina.

Yes, UNC could've easily won that game. Heck, had Marquise Williams not tossed three interceptions inside the Gamecocks’ 25-yard line, the Heels might’ve won handily.

Instead, UNC has a loss -- the worst, in terms of quality of opponent, of any of the current one-loss teams.

And it’s the combination of that bad loss and a lackluster schedule since then that has the committee dubious of the Tar Heels’ resume. Yes, the Heels have looked very good. And perhaps they’d beat most of the teams still ranked ahead of them. But on sheer resume right now, the committee has its doubts. And while that Game 1 loss has fueled UNC’s fire since, it’s also acted like an anchor around its neck in the eyes of the committee. Are there teams ahead with similar (or worse) resumes? Of course. But the committee has made its stance clear.

So, where does that leave the Heels moving forward? Without absolute chaos around the rest of the country, a playoff bid seems out of reach. They’ll assuredly move up in the standings if they keep winning, as many of the teams ahead of them will play one another, but there isn’t another ranked team on UNC’s slate until the ACC championship game (should the Heels clinch the Coastal). If Florida State beats Florida and then the Gators win the SEC, and Stanford beats Notre Dame but the Cardinal lose the Pac-12 title, and if two-loss Michigan takes the Big Ten and chaos erupts in the Big 12 ... maybe.

The better goal for UNC right now is simply to keep winning. If it finishes the season 11-1 and then plays Clemson close in the ACC title game, a bid to a New Year’s Six game is still well within reach. And for a team that hasn’t won nine games in a season since 1997, that would be a major accomplishment.