At ACC Media Day on Sunday, Virginia — to nobody’s surprise — was picked to finish dead last (12th) in the conference.

The No. 5 Tar Heels still have the Cavaliers’ number after UNC rolled to a 5-1 victory on a rainy field — a win that both coaches said was closer than the final score made it look.

North Carolina was the preseason pick to claim its fifth straight league title, receiving 15 of 42 first-place votes by the ACC’s panel of reporters and school representatives in voting results released during the league’s media day.

A simple message scripted in block letters on both forearms of Virginia linebacker Darren Childs unravel a tale of survival and success when combined that was magnified Saturday during an improbable 10-tackle performance in the Cavaliers’ 16-13 overtime win over North Carolina.

For weeks now, the Cavaliers have been struggling to find their identity as a football team, and after Saturday night’s dramatic, 16-13 upset over No. 18 North Carolina, Al Groh said his team had discovered it.

Only 2:18 remained and the Cavaliers were backed up deep in their own territory, trailing 10-3. An offense that had been stagnant almost all evening was faced with the improbability of going 82 yards under immense pressure.

Marc Verica entered the third quarter of Saturday’s game with as many incomplete passes as those that found receivers.

In an improbable — and almost unbelievable — fashion, UVa surged past the 18th-ranked Tar Heels, 16-13, in overtime on a crisp evening in front of 52,342 fans.

North Carolina may have its best chance in recent history to snap that long-standing slide. The Tar Heels (5-1, 1-1 ACC) enter the game ranked No. 18 and as a 4-point favorite.

In each of North Carolina’s victories this season, the Tar Heels won a critical category needed to be successful in college football.

Scattershooting around the ACC, while saying farewell to Clemson’s Tommy Bowden, who got the axe from his school on Monday morning ...

In some magical way, Virginia quarterback Marc Verica has blocked out a forgettable experience at Duke.

Wahoo fans simply refer to it as “The Streak.” Tar Heel fans consider it more of a curse.

Long after the clock had struck midnight, Virginia closer Michael Schwimer hurled the 354th pitch of the game and immediately held his breath as the marathon contest with top-ranked North Carolina hung in the balance.

Brian O’Connor is not sure if it has ever happened in ACC Tournament history. O’Connor’s Virginia baseball team, as a reward for earning the No. 6 seed in the league’s postseason event, drew a first-round contest with No. 3 seed North Carolina (45-10, 22-7), which just so happens to be the nation’s top-ranked team.