UNC moves up in the AP Top 25 men’s poll after two road wins

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina jumped to a season-high No. 7 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday after a pair of road ACC wins last week.

The Tar Heels (11–3, 3–0) won at Pittsburgh 70–57 and at Clemson, which dropped five spots to No. 21, 65–55 on Saturday. It’s the highest ranking for UNC since being No. 1 for the first three polls last season.

Marquette (11–4) was No. 7 but fell to No. 11 after a 78–75 loss to unranked Seton Hall.

Carolina, with a NET ranking of 10, already has four wins over ranked teams, which equals the combined total of the previous two seasons.

The Tar Heels have played four teams in the top 9: No. 4 UConn (13–2), No. 5 Tennessee (11–3), No. 6 Kentucky (11–2) and No. 9 Oklahoma (13–1), splitting the four games against those teams.

Carolina is in the top 11 for the sixth consecutive week, the longest streak since doing it 13 straight weeks over two seasons, ending Dec. 9, 2019.

The Tar Heels play their third consecutive ACC road game Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ESPN) against N.C. State (11–3, 3–0).

The Wolfpack and Heels, who share the ACC lead with Wake Forest, will play with both 3–0 in the ACC for the first time since Jan. 22, 1974, and for only the fourth time overall (also in 1959 and 1969).

Duke (11–3) moved up three spots and is tied at No. 11 with Marquette after beating Syracuse 86–66 and Notre Dame 67–59.

Other teams ranked in the top 13 of last week’s poll to lose were:
–Illinois (11–3), which fell one spot to No. 10 after an 83–78 loss to No. 1 Purdue.
–BYU (12–2), which fell six spots to No. 18, after a 71–60 loss to Cincinnati.
–Colorado State (13–2), which dropped four spots to No. 17 after a 77–72 loss to Utah State.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 7 are Adam Cole of the Opelika-Auburn News in Alabama and Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, with Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., ranking the Heels the lowest at No. 10.

JB Ricks of Spectrum News has UNC No. 6, with WTVD’s Kate Rogerson voting the Heels No. 7 and Luke DeCock of The News & Observer putting them No. 8.

AP Top 25

RankingTeam
(1st-place votes)		RecordPoll
points		Previous
1Purdue (54)14-11,5661
2Houston (7)14-01,4863
3Kansas (2)13-11,4812
4UConn13-21,3354
5Tennessee11-31,2915
6Kentucky11-21,2536
7North Carolina11-31,2138
8Arizona12-31,10710
9Oklahoma13-11,02311
10Illinois11-39249
T-11Marquette11-48697
T-11Duke11-386915
13Memphis13-284315
14Baylor12-278718
15Wisconsin11-366321
16Auburn12-255925
17Colorado State13-24363
18BYU12-242612
19San Diego State13-238619
20Utah State14-124120
21Clemson11-321916
22Creighton11-418722
23Gonzaga11-418524
24Florida Atlantic11-416517
25Texas11-314820

Others receiving votes: Dayton 126, Mississippi 125, James Madison 98, Cincinnati 79, Nevada 77, Texas Tech 62, Wake Forest 38, Grand Canyon 35, Seton Hall 34, South Carolina 29, Miami 27, St. John’s 18, Iowa St. 16, Colorado 8, N.C. State 7, Michigan St. 7, Alabama 7, Providence 6, Oregon 4, TCU 3, Northwestern 3, Princeton 2, Utah 2.

UNC season statistics

ACC standings

TeamLeagueOverall
No. 4 North Carolina17–325–6
No. 11 Duke15–524–7
Virginia13–722–9
Pittsburgh12–821–10
Clemson11–921–10
Syracuse11–920–11
Wake Forest11–919–12
Virginia Tech10–1018–13
Florida State10–1016–15
N.C. State9–1117–13
Boston College8–1217–14
Georgia Tech7–1214–17
Notre Dame7–1312–19
Miami6–1415–16
Louisville3–178–22

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

DateMonth/dayScoreOpponent/event
(current ranks)		Record
October
27FridayW, 117–53vs. St. Augustine’sExhibition
November
6MondayW, 86–70vs. Radford1–0
12SundayW, 90–68vs. Lehigh2–0
17FridayW, 77–52vs. UC Riverside3–0
Battle 4 Atlantis
in the Bahamas
22WednesdayW, 91–69Northern Iowa4–0
23ThursdayL, 83–81, OTVillanova4–1
24FridayW, 87–72Arkansas5–1
ACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
29WednesdayW, 100–92vs. No. 6 Tennessee6–1
December
2SaturdayW, 78–70vs. Florida State7–1,
1–0 ACC
Jimmy V Classic
in New York
5TuesdayL, 87–67No. 1 Connecticut7–2
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
16SaturdayL, 87–83No. 12 Kentucky7–3
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
20WednesdayW, 81–69Oklahoma8–3
—————————
29FridayW, 105–60vs. Charleston Southern9–3
January
2TuesdayW, 70–57at Pittsburgh10–3, 2–0 ACC
6SaturdayW, 65–55at Clemson11–3, 3–0 ACC
10WednesdayW, 67–54at N.C. State12–3, 4–0 ACC
13SaturdayW, 103–67vs. Syracuse13–3, 5–0 ACC
17WednesdayW, 86–70vs. Louisville14–3, 6–0 ACC
20SaturdayW, 76–66vs. Boston College15–3, 7–0 ACC
22MondayW, 85–64vs. Wake Forest16–3, 8–0 ACC
27SaturdayW, 75–68at Florida State17–3, 9–0 ACC
30TuesdayL, 74–73at Georgia Tech17–4, 9–1 ACC
February
3SaturdayW, 93–84vs. No. 13 Duke18–4, 10–1 ACC
6TuesdayL, 80–76vs. Clemson18–5, 10–2 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–72at Miami19–5, 11–2 ACC
13TuesdayL, 86–79at Syracuse19–6, 11–3 ACC
17SaturdayW, 96–81vs. Virginia Tech20–6, 12–3 ACC
24SaturdayW, 54–44at Virginia21–6, 13–3 ACC
26MondayW, 75–71vs. Miami22–6, 14–3 ACC
March
2SaturdayW, 79–70vs. N.C. State23–6, 15–3 ACC
5TuesdayW, 84–51vs. Notre Dame24–6, 16–3 ACC
9SaturdayW, 84–79at No. 13 Duke25–6, 17–3 ACC
ACC tournament
Washington
14ThursdayW, 92–67Quarterfinals:
Florida State		26–6
15FridayW, 72–65Semifinals:
Pittsburgh		27–6
16SaturdayL, 84–76Final:
N.C. State		27–7
NCAA tournament
21ThursdayW, 90–62First round in Charlotte:
Wagner		28–7
23SaturdayW, 85–69Second round in Charlotte:
Michigan State		29–7
28ThursdayL, 89–87Sweet 16 in Los Angeles:
No. 19 Alabama 		29–8

Photo by Smith Hardy

Published by R.L. Bynum

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