By R.L. Bynum
Carolina’s blowout home victory over Campbell was enough to move the Tar Heels up in the Coaches Poll and return to the AP Top 25.
UNC (7–2, 3–2 ACC), which pummeled the Camels 59–7 on Saturday, moved up two spots to No. 23 in the Coaches Poll and returned to the AP poll at No. 24.
Carolina has the fewest poll points as a ranked team in 31 years. The 95 poll points are the fewest when making the poll since the Tar Heels got 67 when they were ranked No. 25 on Nov. 10, 1992, in the fifth season of Coach Mack Brown’s first stint in Chapel Hill. That is the fewest for UNC in a week it’s ranked since the poll went to 25 teams in 1989.
Aiding Carolina’s return to the poll were losses by Air Force, UCLA, USC and Kansas State, which dropped all four out of the poll. Previously No. 17 Air Force lost 23–3 to unranked Army, previously No. 19 UCLA lost 27–10 loss to Arizona (which was unranked but now No. 23), previously No. 23 USC lost 52–42 at home to Washington (which remained No. 5) and previously No. 25 Kansas State lost 33–30 in overtime to Texas (which remained at No. 7).
Others ranked last week in the AP poll to lose were Oklahoma (fell seven spots to No. 16 after a 27–24 loss at Oklahoma State), Missouri (slipped two spots to No. 16 after a 30–21 loss to No. 1 Georgia), LSU (dropped five spots to No. 18 after a 42–28 loss at No. 8 Alabama) and Notre Dame (fell 10 spots to No. 22 after a 31–19 loss at Clemson).
Florida State remained at No. 4 after a 24–7 win at Pittsburgh, as the top nine was unchanged from the previous poll. Louisville moved up four spots to No. 11 after a 34–3 home win over Virginia Tech.
Ranking Carolina the highest at No. 15 is Pete Martin of the Salem Statesman Journal in Oregon. Emily Adams of The Greenville News in South Carolina voted UNC No. 17, Jack Ebring of WSYM in Lansing, Mich., had the Heels No. 18 and Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch voted Carolina No. 20.
Forty-seven voters left UNC off their ballots, including all three North Carolina-based voters — Steve Wiseman of The News & Observer, Kate Rogerson of WTVD and Jordan Crammer of WNCN.
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Fresno St. 73, Kansas St. 73, Southern Cal 46, Air Force 26, Toledo 25, UCLA 11, Iowa 6, SMU 5, Duke 4, West Virginia 3, Texas A&M 1, N.C. State 1, Clemson 1. Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first-place votes.
| 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
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | |||
| 1 | L, 48–14 | vs. TCU | 0–1 |
| 6 | W, 20–3 | at Charlotte | 1–1 |
| 13 | W, 41–6 | vs. Richmond | 2–1 |
| 20 | L, 34–9 | at UCF | 2–2 |
| October | |||
| 4 | L, 38–10 | vs. Clemson | 2–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 (Fri.) | L, 21–18 | at California | 2–4, 0–2 |
| 25 | L, 17–16, OT | vs. No. 16 Virginia | 2–5, 0–3 |
| 31 (Fri.) | W, 27–10 | at Syracuse | 3–5, 1–3 |
| November | |||
| 8 | W, 20–15 | vs. Stanford | 4–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | L, 28–12 | at Wake Forest | 4–6, 2–4 |
| 22 | L, 32–25 | vs. Duke | 4–7, 2–5 |
| 29 | L, 42–19 | at N.C. State | 4–8, 2–6 |
Photo via @GoHeels
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