UNC misses AP Top 25 men’s poll for 4th consecutive week

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina only beat a two-win team last week and that may be one reason why the Tar Heels were left out of the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll for the fourth consecutive week.

UNC was No. 19 in the preseason poll and No. 18 the next week before it fell out of the poll after losing to Purdue and Tennessee in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament before Thanksgiving.

No. 22 Xavier, No. 23 Colorado State and No. 25 Texas Tech debuted in the poll but the Tar Heels only got the 27th-most poll points. Carolina got the 29th-most poll points in the coaches poll.

Those new teams in the poll took advantage of losses by Florida (No. 20 last week but now unranked after it losing to Texas Southern 69–54 and Maryland 70–68), Wisconsin (No. 21 last week but now with the 26th-most poll points after it losing to Ohio State 73–55) and BYU (No. 24 last week but now unranked after it fell 83–71 against Creighton).

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 16 were Donald Hurt of the Philadelphia Tribune and Ethan Joyce of the Winston-Salem Journal. Seth Davis of The Athletic voted the Tar Heels No. 18.

WRALSportsFan.com’s Lauren Brownlow voted Carolina No. 21 but the third North Carolina-based voter, Luke DeCock of The News & Observer, was one of 38 voters to leave the Tar Heels off their ballots. There were 42 voters who left UNC off their ballots last week.

Andy Katz has Carolina No. 15 in his power rankings.

After impressive victories over Michigan (72–51) and Georgia Tech (79–62), Carolina’s first post-exam-break game against Elon (2–8) on Saturday was a little more uneven but the Tar Heels won 80–63. Carolina faces Furman at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2).

Purdue (9–1), which lost at Rutgers 70–68 and needed overtime to win at N.C. State 82–72 on Sunday, dropped from No. 1 to No 3, with Baylor (9–0) taking over the top spot. The Bears rolled to a 57–36 win over Villanova, which fell from No. 6 to No. 9.

UCLA, which UNC faces at 3 p.m. Saturday in Las Vegas (CBS), remained at No. 4. Obviously, Carolina will be ranked if it beats the Bruins.

Duke hasn’t played since losing to Ohio State 71–66 on Nov. 30 but moved up one spot from No. 3 to No. 2. The Blue Devils are the only ranked ACC team.

AP Top 25

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 156, North Carolina 85, Providence 57, Oklahoma 46, San Francisco 36, Illinois 31, West Virginia 24, Loyola Chicago 20, Michigan 8, St. Bonaventure 6, BYU 4, Minnesota 3, Creighton 1.

UNC season statistics

Date	Score, record/ day, time, TV	Location	Opponent
	November (4–2)
5	83–55 exhibition win	Home	Elizabeth City State
9	83–67 win, 1–0	Home	Loyola Maryland
12	94–87 win, 2–0	Home	Brown
16	94–83 win, 3–0	Road	College of Charleston
20	93–84 loss, 3–1	Uncasville, Conn.	Y — No. 3 Purdue
21	89–72 loss, 3–2	Uncasville, Conn.	Y — No. 18 Tennessee
23	72–53 win, 4–2	Home	UNC Asheville
	December (3–0, 1-0 ACC)
1	72–51 win, 5–2	Home	X — Michigan
5	79–62 win, 6–2, 1-0 ACC	Road	Georgia Tech
11	80–63 win, 7–2	Home	Elon
14	Tuesday, 7, ESPN2	Home	Furman
18	Saturday, 3, CBS	Las Vegas	Z — No. 4 UCLA
21	Tuesday, 7, ACCN	Home	Appalachian State
29	Wednesday, 7, ESPN2	Home	Virginia Tech
	January
1	Saturday, noon, ACCN	Road	Boston College
5	Wednesday, 9, ESPN2	Road	Notre Dame
8	Saturday, 1, ESPN	Home	Virginia
15	Saturday, 8, ACCN	Home	Georgia Tech
18	Tuesday, TBA, ESPN	Road	Miami
22	Saturday, 8, ACCN	Road	Wake Forest
26	Wednesday, RSN	Home	Boston College
29	Saturday, 2, ACCN	Home	N.C. State
31	Monday, 7, ESPN	Road	Louisville
	February
5	Saturday, 6, ESPN	Home	No. 2 Duke
8	Tuesday, 9, ESPN or ESPN2	Road	Clemson
12	Saturday, 2, ESPN or ESPN2	Home	Florida State
16	Wednesday, 8, ACCN	Home	Pittsburgh
19	Saturday, 4, ESPN or ESPN2	Road	Virginia Tech
21	Monday, 7, ESPN	Home	Louisville
26	Saturday, 2 or 4, ESPN or ESPN2	Road	N.C. State
28	Monday, 7, ESPN	Home	Syracuse
	March
5	Saturday, 6, ESPN	Road	No. 2 Duke
8– 12	ACC Tournament	Brooklyn

Photo via @UNC_Basketball