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.
ACC standings
| Team | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|
| X — No. 5 Florida State | 8–0 | 12–0 |
| X — No. 9 Louisville | 7–1 | 10–2 |
| N.C. State | 6–2 | 9–3 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–3 | 6–6 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–3 | 6–6 |
| Clemson | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| North Carolina | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| Duke | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Miami | 3–5 | 7–5 |
| Boston College | 3–5 | 6–6 |
| Syracuse | 2–6 | 6–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Virginia | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Wake Forest | 1–7 | 4–8 |
Friday’s result
Miami 45, Boston College 20
Saturday’s games
Kentucky 38, No. 9 Louisville 31
Duke 30, Pittsburgh 19
Syracuse 35, Wake Forest 31
No. 1 Georgia 31, Georgia Tech 23
Virginia Tech 55, Virginia 17
Clemson 16, South Carolina 7
No. 5 Florida State 24, Florida 15
N.C. State 39, North Carolina 20
Next Saturday’s ACC championship game in Charlotte
No. 9 Louisville vs. No. 5 Florida State, 8 p.m., ABC
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Opponent/event | 2023 record | UNC record in series |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | |||
| 20 | Spring game, 3 p.m. | — | — |
| August | |||
| 29 (Thurs.) | at Minnesota | 6–7 | 1–0 |
| September | |||
| 7 | Charlotte | 3–9 | 0–0 |
| 14 | N.C. Central | 9–3 | 0–0 |
| 21 | James Madison | 11–2 | 3–0 |
| 28 | at Duke | 8–5 | 65–40–4 |
| October | |||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 3–9 | 12–5 |
| 12 | Georgia Tech | 7–6 | 22–33–3 |
| 26 | at Virginia | 3–9 | 66–58–4 |
| November | |||
| 2 | at Florida State | 13–1 | 3–17–1 |
| 16 | Wake Forest | 4–8 | 72–36–2 |
| 23 | at Boston College | 7–6 | 6–2 |
| 30 | N.C. State | 9–4 | 68–39–6 |
Photo via @UNCFootball
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