By R.L. Bynum
Carolina went up one spot to No. 8 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after rolling to a Friday victory over Charleston Southern.
UNC (9–3, 1–0 ACC) is ranked in the top 10 for the fourth time this season, the most since the Tar Heels were in the top 10 for the first five polls of the 2019–20 season. Carolina hopes the comparisons end there, considering that team, which peaked at No. 5 on Nov. 18, 2019, finished 14–19.
Carolina is 12th in the KenPom ratings, 16th in Bart Torvik’s rankings, 18th in Team Rankings, 20th in the NET ranking and projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, according to Bracket Matrix.
UNC is 2–2 against four teams ranked in the top 11 that all moved up from last week’s poll: No. 4 UConn (11–2; up 1), No. 5 Tennessee (9–3; up 1), No. 6 Kentucky (10–2; up 2) and No. 11 Oklahoma (12–1; up 1).
The Tar Heels, who thumped the Bucs 105–60, restart ACC play this week with road games at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN) against Pittsburgh (9–4, 0–2) and noon Saturday (ESPN2) against No. 16 Clemson (11–1, 1–0), which move up two spots.
The Panthers lost Saturday 81–73 at Syracuse and the Tigers, who visit Miami at 8 p.m. Wednesday, coasted to a 93–58 Friday win over Radford.
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No. 14 Duke, up two spots, is the third ACC team in the poll.
Caleb Love’s Arizona team fell six spots to No. 10 after losing 100–82 Sunday at Stanford.
Other teams in last week’s poll to lose were:
— Florida Atlantic (10–3), which sunk 10 spots to No. 17 after a 72–68 loss at Florida Gulf Coast.
— Gonzaga (9–4), which is down 11 spots to No. 24 following an 84–74 loss to San Diego State
— Creighton (9–4), previously No. 22, fell out of the poll after a 72–67 loss to Marquette (11–3), which moved up three spots to No. 7.
Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News and Kyle Austin of MLive in East Lansing, Mich., ranked UNC the highest at No. 5, with nine voting Carolina No. 6 and 16 putting the Heels No. 7. Ranking the Tar Heels the lowest at No. 18 was Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net.
JB Ricks of Spectrum News voted Carolina No. 8, Kate Rogerson of WTVD had the Heels No. 9 and Luke DeCock of The News & Observer had them No. 12.
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: San Diego State 113, Creighton 106, Colorado 86, Utah 82, Miami 41, Iowa State 22, Michigan State 15, Nevada 13, Texas A&M 13, Ohio State 8, New Mexico 6, Grand Canyon 5, Dayton 5, South Carolina 4, Mississippi State 4, Alabama 3, Villanova 3, Northwestern 3.
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 17–1 | 29–2 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 10 Virginia | 15–3 | 27–4 | 13 | 11 |
| Miami | 13–5 | 24–7 | 32 | 28 |
| No. 19 North Carolina | 12–6 | 24–7 | 23 | 19 |
| Clemson | 12–6 | 22–9 | 36 | 33 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 11–7 | 22–9 | 14 | 25 |
| N.C. State | 10–8 | 19–12 | 35 | 45 |
| Florida State | 10–8 | 17–14 | 69 | 74 |
| California | 9–9 | 21–10 | 65 | 49 |
| Stanford | 9–9 | 20–11 | 59 | 51 |
| SMU | 8–10 | 19–12 | 39 | 50 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–10 | 19–12 | 53 | 52 |
| Wake Forest | 7–11 | 16–15 | 64 | 81 |
| Syracuse | 6–12 | 15–16 | 83 | 92 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–13 | 12–19 | 109 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–14 | 13–18 | 93 | 121 |
| Boston College | 4–14 | 11–20 | 159 | 217 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–16 | 11–20 | 167 | 210 |
* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday
| 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 by Smith Hardy
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