By R.L. Bynum
Carolina is back to playing well, has continued to improve during a four-game win streak, and now the Tar Heels are back in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after a three-week absence.
UNC (9–4, 1–1 ACC) is No. 25 after following up its big 89–84 overtime victory Dec. 17 in New York over Ohio State with an 80–76 win Wednesday in Charlotte over Michigan. Losses by No. 21 Virginia Tech, No. 24 Marquette and No. 25 Arizona State dropped all three from the poll, aiding the Tar Heels’ return.
The Tar Heels are the only four-loss team in the poll. There are five three-loss teams: Gonzaga (10–3), Indiana (10–3), Duke (10–3), Kentucky (8–3) and Xavier (10–3).
Carolina still isn’t ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll, with the 27th-most poll points.
UNC will try to keep the momentum going at noon Friday (ACC Network), visiting Pittsburgh (9–4, 2–0). The Panthers have won three straight, and eight of their last nine, with road ACC wins against N.C. State (68–60) and Syracuse (84–80).
It will be a chance for Carolina, No. 24 in the NET rankings, to earn its second Quad 1 victory. Pittsburgh has a NET ranking of 70, and road games against teams 75 or higher meet that criteria. UNC is 1–4 in Quad 1 games, 4–0 in Quad 2 games (the Michigan win fell into that category), 2–0 in Quad 3 games and 2–0 in Quad 4 games. (See quad schedule breakdown below.)
Carolina is No. 20 in KenPom rankings and No. 34 in Bart Torvik’s rankings.
This is the fourth time Carolina has been ranked in the 20s in the AP poll since it happened three consecutive weeks in 2015 (No. 21 on Dec. 3, No. 24 on Dec. 15 and No. 20 on Dec. 22). UNC was No. 25 last season on March 7, No. 22 on Dec. 14, 2020, and No. 20 on Jan. 8, 2018.
The highest rank in program history after being unranked was in the 2010–11 season. That season, UNC was No. 8 in the first two polls and fell to No. 25 in the third poll. Then, after being unranked nine consecutive weeks, it returned to the poll at No. 23 on Jan. 31 and ascended to No. 7 by March 7. That team finished 30–8, losing to Kentucky 76–69 in the East Regional final.
Seth Davis of CBS and The Athletic voted UNC the highest at No. 16, with Stephen Means of Cleveland.com ranking it No. 18.
C.L. Brown of The News & Observer ranked the Tar Heels No. 22. Thirty-three voters didn’t rank the Tar Heels, including David Thompson of the Fayetteville Observer and Jordan Crammer of WNCN.
ACC-leading Miami (12–1, 3–0) jumped from eight spots to No. 14 after its eighth consecutive victory, a 66–64 home win over Virginia (8–1, 1–1), which fell seven spots to No. 13.
Duke (10–3, 1–1), which dropped two spots the previous week even though it didn’t play, fell three more spots to No. 17 after an 81–70 defeat at Wake Forest (9–4, 1–1). The Blue Devils have three losses before January for the first time since the 1982–83 season, Mike Krzyzewski’s third at Duke.
Among other teams falling in the AP poll were:
— Mississippi State (11–1) from No. 15 to No. 21 after a 58–52 loss to Drake.
— Illinois (8–4) from No. 16 to unranked after a 93–71 loss to Missouri in St. Louis.
— Virginia Tech (11–2) fell from No. 21 to unranked after a 70–65 loss at Boston College (7–6).
— Marquette (9–4) from No. 24 to unranked after losing 103–98 in double overtime at Providence Tuesday.
— Arizona State (11–2) from No. 25 to unranked after a 97–60 loss Wednesday at unranked San Francisco (11–4).
UNC has faced three of the top six teams also receiving votes: College of Charleston (26th-most poll points), Ohio State (30th-most) and Virginia Tech (31st-most).
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points (1st-place votes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (12–0) | — | 1,478 (40) |
| 2 | UConn (13–0) | — | 1,459 (20) |
| 3 | Houston (12–1) | — | 1,351 |
| 4 | Kansas (11–1) | — | 1,299 |
| 5 | Arizona (12–1) | — | 1,274 |
| 6 | Texas (10–1) | +1 | 1,144 |
| 7 | Tennessee (10–2) | +1 | 1,068 |
| 8 | Alabama (10–2) | +1 | 1,067 |
| 9 | Arkansas (11–1) | +1 | 1,017 |
| 10 | Gonzaga (10–3) | +1 | 940 |
| 11 | UCLA (11–2) | +2 | 906 |
| 12 | Baylor (9–2) | — | 888 |
| 13 | Virginia (8–2) | -7 | 861 |
| 14 | Miami (12–1) | +8 | 658 |
| 15 | Wisconsin (9–2) | +2 | 570 |
| 16 | Indiana (10–3) | +2 | 513 |
| 17 | Duke (10–3) | -3 | 500 |
| 18 | TCU (10–1) | +2 | 480 |
| 19 | Kentucky (8–3) | — | 439 |
| 20 | Auburn (10–2) | +3 | 237 |
| 21 | Mississippi State (11–1) | -6 | 215 |
| 22 | New Mexico (12–0) | — | 147 |
| 22 | Xavier (10–3) | — | 147 |
| 24 | West Virginia (10–2) | — | 126 |
| 25 | North Carolina (9–4) | — | 112 |
Others receiving votes: Charleston 102, Maryland 87, Memphis 74, Illinois 65, Ohio State 59, Virginia Tech 57, Missouri 57, San Diego State 39, Iowa State 19, Marquette 12, Texas Tech 10, Michigan State 7, Providence 6, Kansas State 5, USC 4, San Francisco 1.
Quad schedule breakdown
| Opponent | NET ranking | Quad | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNCW | 72 | 2 | Win |
| College of Charleston | 53 | 2 | Win |
| Gardner-Webb | 168 | 4 | Win |
| James Madison | 69 | 2 | Win |
| Portland | 144 | 3 | Win |
| Iowa State | 32 | 1 | Loss |
| Alabama | 8 | 1 | Loss |
| At Indiana | 21 | 1 | Loss |
| At Virginia Tech | 27 | 1 | Loss |
| Georgia Tech | 140 | 3 | Win |
| The Citadel | 289 | 4 | Win |
| Ohio State | 15 | 1 | Win |
| Michigan | 80 | 2 | Win |
| At Pittsburgh | 70 | 1 | |
| Wake Forest | 87 | 3 | |
| Notre Dame | 181 | 4 | |
| At Virginia | 18 | 1 | |
| At Louisville | 344 | 4 | |
| Boston College | 227 | 4 | |
| N.C. State | 55 | 2 | |
| At Syracuse | 159 | 3 | |
| Pittsburgh | 70 | 2 | |
| At Duke | 17 | 1 | |
| At Wake Forest | 87 | 2 | |
| Clemson | 77 | 3 | |
| Miami | 48 | 2 | |
| At N.C. State | 55 | 1 | |
| At Notre Dame | 181 | 3 | |
| Virginia | 18 | 1 | |
| At Florida State | 250 | 4 | |
| Duke | 17 | 1 |
UNC statistics
| 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 of Caleb Love via @UNC_Basketball
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