By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s thrilling 89–84 overtime victory Saturday over Ohio State still wasn’t enough to return the Tar Heels to the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll.
The Tar Heels (8–4), the preseason No. 1 team, are unranked for the third consecutive week. Unlike last week, though, UNC received votes, garnering the 32nd-most poll points with 36. The Buckeyes (7–3) fell from No. 23 to unranked. UNC garnered the 33rd-most poll points in the USA Today Coaches poll.
There are no four-loss teams in the AP poll, with three losses the most for any ranked team: No. 11 Gonzaga (9–3), No. 16 Illinois (8–3), No. 18 Indiana (9–3), No. 19 Kentucky (7–3) and No. 24 Marquette (9–3).
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 19 was Seth Davis of The Athletic. Brian Holland of WVLA-TV in Baton Rouge, La., had UNC No. 20. Greg Madia of The Daily Progress in Charlotteville and Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News voted Carolina No. 22 and Donna Ditota of the Syracuse Post-Standard had the Heels No. 23. Four had UNC No. 24 and four others had the Heels No. 25.
Forty-seven voters didn’t rank UNC, including all three North Carolina-based voters: C.L. Brown of The News & Observer, David Thompson of the Fayetteville Observer and Jordan Crammer of WNCN.
Carolina goes for its fourth consecutive victory at 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN) against Michigan (7–3) in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.
Armando Bacot is the ACC player of the week after averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds and 2.5 assists in Carolina wins over The Citadel and Ohio State. It’s the fourth time he’s earned the honor in is career and first time a Tar Heel has won it this season.
Virginia (8–1) fell from No. 2 to No. 6 after losing 69–61 at home to Houston (11–1), which moved up from No. 5 to No. 3. Alabama (9–2), which beat Carolina 103–101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27, fell from No. 4 to No. 9 after a 100–90 loss to Gonzaga, which moved up four spots.
Indiana, which beat Carolina 77–65 on Nov. 30, dropped four spots after an 84–62 loss to Kansas.
Other teams falling in the poll were Kentucky (six spots after a 63–53 loss to UCLA), 9–2 Auburn (from No. 19 to No. 23 after a 74–71 loss to Southern Cal) and 8–3 Maryland (from No. 20 to unranked after an 87–60 loss to UCLA).
Duke (10–2), which didn’t play last week, fell two spots to No.14, Virginia Tech (11–1) is up three spots to No. 21 after a 74–48 victory over Grambling and Miami (11–1) is up three spots to No. 22 after beating St. Francis 91–76.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points (1st-place votes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (11–0) | — | 1,502 (40) |
| 2 | UConn (12–0) | +1 | 1,482 (21) |
| 3 | Houston (11–1) | +2 | 1,374 |
| 4 | Kansas (10–1) | +4 | 1,290 |
| 5 | Arizona (10–1) | +4 | 1,269 |
| 6 | Virginia (8–1) | -4 | 1,195 |
| 7 | Texas (9–1) | — | 1,064 |
| 8 | Tennessee (9–2) | -2 | 1,024 |
| 9 | Alabama (9–2) | -5 | 1,021 |
| 10 | Arkansas (10–1) | — | 1,004 |
| 11 | Gonzaga (9–3) | +4 | 895 |
| 12 | Baylor (7–2) | -1 | 873 |
| 13 | UCLA (10–2) | +3 | 871 |
| 14 | Duke (10–2) | -2 | 819 |
| 15 | Mississippi State (11–0) | +2 | 623 |
| 16 | Illinois (8–3) | +2 | 528 |
| 17 | Wisconsin (9–2) | +5 | 432 |
| 18 | Indiana (8–3) | -4 | 408 |
| 19 | Kentucky (7–3) | -6 | 370 |
| 20 | TCU (9–1) | +1 | 358 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech (11–1) | +3 | 297 |
| 22 | Miami (11–1) | +3 | 208 |
| 23 | Auburn (9–2) | -4 | 118 |
| 24 | Marquette (9–3) | — | 116 |
| 25 | Arizona State (11–1) | — | 98 |
Others receiving votes: Maryland 78, West Virginia 74, Xavier 71, Charleston 68, New Mexico 64, Memphis 59, North Carolina 36, Ohio State 33, Iowa State 26, Iowa 21, San Diego State 16, Utah State 10, Texas Tech 10, Michigan State 7, USC 7, Kansas State 5, Saint Mary’s 1.
Same non-league foes
Michigan will be the fifth non-conference school to face Carolina’s women’s and men’s basketball teams this season. The Tar Heels have swept two, split one and been swept by one. They both faced JMU on Nov. 20. Michigan will be the fourth school to meet both teams in the same city on successive days, although they played Iowa State in different Portland arenas.
| School | Women’s games | Men’s games |
|---|---|---|
| UNCW | W 64–42 Dec. 7 (H) | W 69–56 on Nov. 7 (H) |
| James Madison | W 76–65 on Nov. 20 (R) | W 80–64 on Nov. 20 (H) |
| Iowa State | W 73–64 on Nov. 24 (P) | L 70–65 on Nov. 25 (P) |
| Indiana | L 87–63 on Dec. 1 (R) | L 77–65 on Nov. 30 (R) |
| Michigan | Tuesday (C) | Wednesday (C) |
| 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 via @UNC_Basketball
tarheeltribune.com 
AS we learned last year, in-season rankings are slightly less useless than pre-season rankings. All that matters is that we perform well in the ACC and get to the tournament.
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