By R.L. Bynum

It’s the week to show how highly ESPN regards UNC’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Earlier this week, ESPN gave both high seeds in its early NCAA tournament bracket projection, and on Thursday, both were high in its preseason Top 25 list.

Carolina is No. 1 in the men’s ranking as one of three ACC teams on the list and No. 12 in the women’s ranking as one of five ACC teams.

Fans can check out both teams at Live Action with Carolina Basketball at 7:30 Friday night at the Smith Center (ACC Network Extra/ESPN3).

Behind the Tar Heels in the men’s ranking is Gonzaga at No. 2, Houston at No. 3, Kentucky at No. 4 and Duke at No. 5. ESPN projected UNC’s men as a No. 1 seed.

The only other ACC team in its men’s Top 25 is Virginia at No. 18.

In ESPN’s women’s Top 25, South Carolina, which the Tar Heels will host in a closed scrimmage on Oct. 22, is No. 1, followed by Stanford at No. 2.

Other ACC teams in ESPN’s Top 25 are Louisville at No. 7, Notre Dame at No. 8, and N.C. State at No. 11 and Virginia Tech at No. 13.

This is interesting considering that Charlie Creme, who did the rankings and the bracket projection, had Carolina’s women as a No. 3 seed and N.C. State as a No. 4 seed in his bracket projection but he ranks the Wolfpack higher.

While the men’s bracket projection was done by Joe Lunardi, Jeff Borzellow put together ESPN’s men’s ranking.

Photo via @UNC_Basketball