By R.L. Bynum
After opening ACC play with a home victory, North Carolina, No. 24 last week, surprisingly fell out of the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
UNC (9–4, 1–0 ACC) had made the previous 33 polls, the longest streak since Coach Sylvia Hatchell’s teams made 57 in a row from Nov. 19, 2012, until the end of the 2014–15 season. Before Coach Courtney Banghart’s first season in 2019–20, Carolina hadn’t been ranked since the 2016–17 preseason poll.
West Virginia (12–1) moved up one spot to No. 24 after an 85–60 win over Kansas and Syracuse (11–1, 1–0) debuted in the poll at No. 25 after its 86–81 home upset of Notre Dame, leading UNC to get the 26th-most poll points.
The Heels falling out of the poll was just as surprising as them not falling out when they were No. 25 the previous week and lost to 76–64 to UConn on Dec. 10.
The Tar Heels, who finished 2023 with an 82–76 win over Clemson, face two challenging games this week.
Syracuse visits Carmichael Arena at 6 p.m. Thursday (ESPN3). At 5 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2), UNC visits Notre Dame (9–2, 0–1), which fell three spots to No. 16.
Carolina is 34th in the Massey Ratings and 46th in the NET ranking.
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Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 3 N.C. State (13–0, 2–0), No. 13 Virginia Tech (10–2, 1–0; up one spot), No. 17 Louisville (12–2, 1–0; up two spots) and No. 22 Florida State (11–3, 2–0).
Other teams ranked in last week’s poll that lost were:
— Texas (13–1), which fell five spots to No. 10 after an 85–79 loss to Baylor (12–0), which moved up four spots to No. 6.
— Southern Cal (10–1), which slipped three spots to No. 9 after a 71–64 loss to No. 2 UCLA.
— Utah (10–3), which dropped three spots to No. 15 following a 76–65 setback against Colorado (11–1), which is up three spots to No. 5.
— Ohio State (10–3), which dropped three spots to No. 20 after a 69–60 loss to Michigan.
— Marquette (12–1), which fell one spot to No. 19 after a 95–64 loss to UConn (10–3), which is up three spots to No. 12.
Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter, had the Tar Heels the highest at No. 16, with two voters putting the Heels No. 17. Eighteen voters left UNC off of their ballot
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (34) | 12-0 | 874 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA (1) | 12-0 | 839 | 2 |
| 3 | N.C. State | 13-0 | 784 | 3 |
| 4 | Iowa | 13-1 | 754 | 4 |
| 5 | Colorado | 11-1 | 692 | 8 |
| 6 | Baylor | 12-0 | 689 | 10 |
| 7 | LSU | 13-1 | 674 | 7 |
| 8 | Stanford | 12-1 | 630 | 9 |
| 9 | Southern Cal | 10-1 | 601 | 6 |
| 10 | Texas | 13-1 | 585 | 5 |
| 11 | Kansas State | 13-1 | 519 | 11 |
| 12 | UConn | 10-3 | 469 | 15 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 10-2 | 435 | 14 |
| 14 | Indiana | 11-1 | 425 | 16 |
| 15 | Utah | 10-3 | 409 | 12 |
| 16 | Notre Dame | 9-2 | 309 | 13 |
| 17 | Louisville | 12-2 | 306 | 19 |
| 18 | Gonzaga | 13-2 | 246 | 20 |
| 19 | Marquette | 12-1 | 189 | 18 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 10-3 | 181 | 17 |
| 21 | Creighton | 10-2 | 157 | 21 |
| 22 | Florida State | 11-3 | 154 | 22 |
| 23 | TCU | 14-0 | 120 | 21 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 12-0 | 106 | 25 |
| 25 | Syracuse | 11-1 | 56 | NR |
Others receiving votes: North Carolina 49, Washington 36, Oregon St. 19, Texas A&M 16, UNLV 15, Michigan St. 9, Michigan 8, Miami 8, Davidson 6, Mississippi St. 3, Vanderbilt 3.
Where voters had UNC
Alex Simon, SF Gate — left off ballot
Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier-Journal — 24
Brenda VanLengen, ESPN — 17
Carl Adamec, Hearst CT Media — 17
Cassandra Negley, Yahoo — 25
Christy Winters Scott NBC — 24
Cora Hall, Knoxville News Sentinel — left off ballot
Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman — left off ballot
Emily Adams, The Greenville News — left off ballot
Jeff Linder, Cedar Rapids Gazette — left off ballot
Joe Vozzelli, The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. — left off ballot
Kelly Gramlich, ACC Network — 22
Kent Youngblood, Minneapolis Star-Tribune — 23
Kevin Tresolini, Delawareonline.com — left off ballot
Kim Adams, Fox Sports — 22
Lindsay Schnell, USA Today — 22
Michael Voepel, ESPN — left off ballot
Marisa Ingemi, San Francisco Chronicle — 23
Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader — 23
Meghan McKeown, Big Ten Network — 25
Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal — 25
Michelle Smith, The Next — 25
Mitchell Northam, WUNC — 16
Payton Titus, The State — 25
Percy Allen, Seattle Times — left off ballot
P.J. Brown, Arizona Daily Star — left off ballot
Rebecca Lobo, ESPN — 23
Reed Darcey, The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La. — left off ballot
Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle — left off ballot
Roger Cleaveland, Waterbury Republican-American — left off ballot
Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic — left off ballot
Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald — left off ballot
Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Leader in Jackson, Miss. — left off ballot
Stu Durando, St. Louis Post-Dispatch — left off ballot
Zack Smith, Waco Tribune — left off ballot
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Duke | 16–2 | 21–8 | 10 | 13 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15–3 | 25–6 | 13 | 10 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 14–4 | 25–6 | 19 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 13–5 | 20–9 | 23 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 12–6 | 22–7 | 40 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–6 | 22–8 | 41 | 34 |
| Notre Dame | 12–6 | 20–9 | 24 | 23 |
| Clemson | 11–7 | 20–10 | 44 | 40 |
| Virginia | 11–7 | 19–10 | 36 | 49 |
| California | 9–9 | 18–13 | 53 | 60 |
| Stanford | 8–10 | 19–12 | 42 | 56 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 16–13 | 58 | 65 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–10 | 12–17 | 76 | 109 |
| Florida State | 5–13 | 10–20 | 107 | 138 |
| Wake Forest | 4–14 | 14–16 | 121 | 134 |
| SMU | 2–16 | 9–21 | 220 | 209 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 8–23 | 262 | 238 |
| Boston College | 1–17 | 5–26 | 247 | 283 |
* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at No. 22 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
