By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina, already preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25, added Tuesday the top ranking in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Tar Heels garnered a lower percentage of first-place votes (71.8%) than in the AP poll (79%), 23 of 32, followed by No. 2 Gonzaga with five, No. 4 Kentucky with three and No. 3 Houston with one. In the AP poll, UNC got 49 of 62 first-place votes, with No. 2 Gonzaga getting 12, No. 4 Kentucky two and No. 3 Houston one.

Carolina, which advanced to the NCAA championship game last season, plays a home exhibition game at 7:30 Friday night against Johnson C. Smith (ACC Network Extra/ESPN3) before opening the season at 9 p.m. on Nov. 7 against UNC Wilmington.

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The only other ACC teams in the preseason coaches poll are No. 8 Duke and No. 18 Virginia, the identical positions for both in the AP poll.

The only difference in the top 12 of both polls is that Baylor is tied for No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 in the coaches poll. Indiana, which UNC visits in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 30, is No. 13 in the AP poll but No. 14 in the coaches poll.

The ACC voter in the poll is Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim.

Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	Team	Poll points	First-place votes
1	North Carolina	778	23
2	Gonzaga	759	5
3	Houston	713	1
4	Kentucky	697	3
5	Kansas	660	0
6	Baylor	632	0
7	UCLA	560	0
8	Duke	552	0
9	Creighton	500	0
10	Arkansas	498	0
11	Tennessee	486	0
12	Texas	449	0
13	Arizona	352	0
14	Indiana	334	0
15	Auburn	318	0
16	Texas Christian	317	0
17	Villanova	300	0
18	Virginia	287	0
19	Alabama	176	0
20	San Diego St.	173	0
21	Oregon	128	0
22	Michigan	122	0
23	Illinois	115	0
24	Texas Tech	107	0
25	Dayton	75	0

Others receiving votes: Purdue 44; Texas A&M 37; Miami-Florida 31; Connecticut 31; Michigan St. 29; Providence 22; Iowa 22; Syracuse 13; Florida State 13; Virginia Tech 9; Southern California 9; Saint Mary’s 8; Wyoming 7; Wisconsin 7; UAB 6; Ohio St. 5; Florida 5; Iowa State 4; Xavier 3; Toledo 2; Rutgers 2; Drake 2; Boise St. 1.

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	October
28	Friday	W, 101–40	Johnson C. Smith	Home	Exhibition
	November
7	Monday	W, 69–56	UNCW	Home	1–0
11	Friday	W, 102–86	College of Charleston	Home	2–0
15	Tuesday	W, 72–66	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 80–64	James Madison	Home	4–0
			Phil Knight Invitational
24	Thursday	W, 89–81	First round: Portland	Portland	5–0
25	Friday	L, 70–65	Semifinals: Iowa State	Portland	5–1
27	Sunday	L, 103–101, 4 OTs	Consolation: No. 1 Alabama	Portland	5–2
			ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Wednesday	L, 77–65	No. 21 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	5–3
	December
4	Sunday	L, 80–72	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	5–4, 0–1 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–59	Georgia Tech	Home	6–4, 1–1 ACC
13	Tuesday	W, 100–67	The Citadel	Home	7–4
			CBS Sports Classic
17	Saturday	W, 89–84, OT	Ohio State	New York	8–4
			Jumpman Invitational
21	Wednesday	W, 80–76	Michigan	Charlotte	9–4
30	Friday	L, 76–74	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	9–5, 1–2 ACC
	January
4	Wednesday	W, 88–79	Wake Forest	Home	10–5, 2–2 ACC
7	Saturday	W, 81–64	Notre Dame	Home	11–5, 3–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	L, 65–58	No. 14 Virginia	Charlottesville	11–6, 3–3 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 80–59	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	12–6, 4–3 ACC
17	Tuesday	W, 72–64	Boston College	Home	13–6, 5–3 ACC
21	Saturday	W, 80–69	N.C. State	Home	14–6, 6–3 ACC
24	Tuesday	W, 72–68	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	15–6, 7–3 ACC
	February
1	Wednesday	L, 65–64	Pittsburgh	Home	15–7, 7–4 ACC
4	Saturday	L, 63–57	No. 12 Duke	Durham	15–8, 7–5 ACC
7	Tuesday	L, 92–85	Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	15–9, 7–6 ACC
11	Saturday	W, 91–71	Clemson	Home	16–9, 8–6 ACC
13	Monday	L, 80–72	No. 16 Miami	Home	16–10, 8–7 ACC
19	Sunday	L, 77–69	N.C. State	Raleigh	16–11, 8–8 ACC
22	Wednesday	W, 63–59	Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	17–11, 9–8 ACC
25	Saturday	W, 71–63	No. 14 Virginia	Home	18–11, 10–8 ACC
27	Monday	W, 77–66	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	19–11, 11–8 ACC
	March
4	Saturday	L, 62–57	No. 12 Duke	Home	19–12, 11–9 ACC
			ACC tournament
8	Wednesday	W, 85–61	Boston College	Greensboro	20–12
9	Thursday	L, 68–59	No. 14 Virginia	Greensboro	20–13

Photo courtesy of the ACC