By R.L. Bynum
Oklahoma will be ranked higher than North Carolina when the teams meet on Wednesday after the Sooners moved up four spots to No. 7 and the Tar Heels fell two spots to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll released Monday afternoon.
The Sooners (10–0) and Tar Heels (7–3) meet at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center at 9 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN) in the final game of the four-game, two-day Jumpman Invitational.
UNC dropped after their second consecutive loss, an 87–83 defeat in Atlanta on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic to Kentucky, which jumped five spots to No. 9.
Oklahoma (10–0), No. 19 two weeks ago and No. 11 last week, moved into the top 10 for the first time since it was No. 7 on Feb. 22, 2021, after rolling to an 81–47 victory over Green Bay in the Sooners’ only game last week.
Carolina was one of five teams ranked in the top 10 of last week’s poll to lose, leading to shuffling at the top, with Purdue (10–1) moving up two spots to No. 1 after beating Caleb Love’s Arizona team (8–1) 92–84 Saturday in Indianapolis. The Wildcats slipped three notches to No. 4.
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Other teams in the top 10 a week ago that lost last week were:
—Baylor (9–1), which fell four spots to No. 10 after an 88–64 loss to Michigan State.
—Creighton (9–2), which slid four spots to No. 12 after a 79–64 loss to UNLV
—Gonzaga (8–3), which dropped five spots to No. 15 after a 76–63 loss in Seattle to UConn, which stayed at No. 5.
Other ACC teams in the poll are Clemson (9–1; which dropped five spots to No. 18 after a 79–77 loss to Memphis), Duke (7–3; which stayed at No. 21 after an 89–68 win over Hofstra) and Virginia (9–1; which stayed at No. 22 after a 56–54 win over Northeastern).
Miami (8–2), previously No. 24, fell out of the poll after an 84–77 win over La Salle.
The only other team ranked last week to lose was Northwestern, previously No. 25, which fell out of the poll after a 75–73 loss to Chicago State.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 8 is Seth Davis of CBS. Three voters had Carolina No. 9 and five voted the Heels No. 10. Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net didn’t rank the Tar Heels.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD ranked UNC No. 16, while Luke DeCock of The News & Observer and JB Ricks of Spectrum News ranked voted the Heels No. 17.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (48) | 10-1 | 1,534 | 3 |
| 2 | Kansas (6) | 10-1 | 1,457 | 2 |
| 3 | Houston (8) | 11-0 | 1,394 | 4 |
| 4 | Arizona | 8-1 | 1,372 | 1 |
| 5 | UConn | 10-1 | 1,367 | 5 |
| 6 | Marquette | 9-2 | 1,235 | 7 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 10-0 | 1,062 | 11 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 8-3 | 983 | 12 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 8-2 | 981 | 14 |
| 10 | Baylor | 9-1 | 896 | 6 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 7-3 | 773 | 9 |
| 12 | Creighton | 9-2 | 734 | 8 |
| 13 | Illinois | 8-2 | 727 | 16 |
| 14 | Florida Atlantic | 9-2 | 716 | 15 |
| 15 | Gonzaga | 8-3 | 642 | 10 |
| 16 | Colorado State | 10-1 | 588 | 17 |
| 17 | BYU | 10-1 | 569 | 18 |
| 18 | Clemson | 9-1 | 501 | 13 |
| 19 | Texas | 8-2 | 449 | 19 |
| 20 | James Madison | 10-0 | 442 | 20 |
| 21 | Duke | 7-3 | 311 | 21 |
| 22 | Virginia | 9-1 | 287 | 22 |
| 23 | Memphis | 8-2 | 274 | NR |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 8-3 | 269 | 23 |
| 25 | Ole Miss | 10-0 | 180 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Miami 97, Auburn 87, Colorado 84, Utah 37, Iowa St. 24, Ohio St. 12, Michigan St. 10, TCU 10, Texas A&M 9, San Diego St. 8, Northwestern 5, Providence 5, Alabama 3, Dayton 3, Nevada 3, New Mexico 2, Grand Canyon 2, Washington 2, St. Joseph’s 2, South Carolina 1, Mississippi St. 1.
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
