By R.L. Bynum
After a dominant 40–7 home victory over Syracuse on Saturday, North Carolina moved up in the AP Top 25 for the fifth consecutive week.
The Tar Heels (5–0, 2–0 ACC) jumped two spots to No. 12, their highest rank since they were No. 10 in the 2021 preseason poll and their best ranking this late in the season since they were No. 5 on Oct. 11, 2020. Seven consecutive weeks ranked No. 21 or higher is the longest Carolina streak since that 2020 team was no lower than No. 18 in the first eight polls.
Seven AP voters had UNC as a top-10 team.
Carolina is back at Kenan Stadium on Saturday to face Miami (4–1, 0–1) at 7:30 p.m. (ABC). The Hurricanes sunk eight spots in the poll to No. 25 after a stunning 23–20 home loss Saturday night to Georgia Tech.
UNC moved up one spot to No. 12 in the Coaches Poll and also is No. 12 in the National Football Foundation’s Super 16.
The first College Football Playoff ranking doesn’t come out until Oct. 31.
Teams ahead of Carolina in last week’s AP poll that lost were Texas (5–1; fell six spots to No. 9 after a 34–30 loss to Oklahoma), Notre Dame (5–2; fell 11 spots to No. 21 after a 33–20 loss at Louisville) and Washington State (4–1; fell six spots to No. 19 after a 25–17 defeat against UCLA).
Louisville (6–0, 3–0) surged 11 spots to No. 14 after that victory over the Irish.
Florida State (5–0, 3–0) is up one spot to No. 4 after its 39–17 victory over Virginia Tech.
Duke (4–1, 1–0), which had the weekend off, is the only other ACC team in the poll. The Blue Devils slid up two spots to No. 17.
Steve Wiseman of The News & Observer was one of three voters, along with Adam Zucker of CBS Sports and Mike Niziolek of The Bloomington Herald-Times in Indiana, to vote UNC the highest at No. 9.
Four voters have Carolina No. 10: Emily Leiker of Syracuse.com, Emily Adams of The Greenville News in South Carolina, Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star and Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The other two North Carolina-based voters — Jordan Crammer of WNCN and Kate Rogerson of WTVD — both voted the Tar Heels No. 12.
Voting UNC the lowest at No. 16 were James Williams of the Southern California News Group and Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.
AP Top 25
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Missouri 69, Wyoming 42, Air Force 41, Wisconsin 41, Tulane 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 17, Maryland 9, Iowa 7, James Madison 7, Texas A&M 5.
| Team | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Virginia | 7–1 | 10–2 |
| No. 12 Miami | 6–2 | 10–2 |
| No. 25 SMU | 6–2 | 8–4 |
| No. 24 Georgia Tech | 6–2 | 9–3 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–2 | 8–4 |
| Duke | 6–2 | 7–5 |
| Louisville | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| Wake Forest | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| California | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Clemson | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| N.C. State | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Stanford | 3–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida State | 2–6 | 5–7 |
| North Carolina | 2–6 | 4–8 |
| Virginia Tech | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Syracuse | 1–7 | 3–9 |
| Boston College | 1–7 | 2–10 |
Friday’s result
No. 4 Georgia 16, No. 24 Georgia Tech 9
Saturday’s results
N.C. State 42, North Carolina 19
No. 12 Miami 38, Pittsburgh 7
Louisville 41, Kentucky 0
Clemson 28, South Carolina 14
Boston College 34, Syracuse 12
Duke 49, Wake Forest 32
Florida 40, Florida State 21
No. 16 Virginia 27, Virginia Tech 7
California 38, No. 25 SMU 35
No. 9 Notre Dame 49, Stanford 20
Saturday’s ACC championship game
No. 16 Virginia vs. Duke in Charlotte, 8 p.m., ABC
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| August | ||
| 29 | TBA | vs.TCU in Dublin, Ireland |
| September | ||
| 12 | TBA | vs. ETSU |
| 19 | TBA | at Clemson |
| October | ||
| 3 | TBA | vs. Notre Dame |
| 10 | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 17 | TBA | at Duke |
| 24 | TBA | vs. Syracuse |
| 31 | TBA | vs. Miami |
| November | ||
| 7 | TBA | at UConn |
| 14 | TBA | vs. Louisville |
| 21 | TBA | at Virginia |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| December | ||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte |
Photo via @UNCFootball
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