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.
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
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo by Smith Hardy
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