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).
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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
| Ranking | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (54) | 14-1 | 1,566 | 1 |
| 2 | Houston (7) | 14-0 | 1,486 | 3 |
| 3 | Kansas (2) | 13-1 | 1,481 | 2 |
| 4 | UConn | 13-2 | 1,335 | 4 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 11-3 | 1,291 | 5 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 11-2 | 1,253 | 6 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 11-3 | 1,213 | 8 |
| 8 | Arizona | 12-3 | 1,107 | 10 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 13-1 | 1,023 | 11 |
| 10 | Illinois | 11-3 | 924 | 9 |
| T-11 | Marquette | 11-4 | 869 | 7 |
| T-11 | Duke | 11-3 | 869 | 15 |
| 13 | Memphis | 13-2 | 843 | 15 |
| 14 | Baylor | 12-2 | 787 | 18 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 663 | 21 |
| 16 | Auburn | 12-2 | 559 | 25 |
| 17 | Colorado State | 13-2 | 436 | 3 |
| 18 | BYU | 12-2 | 426 | 12 |
| 19 | San Diego State | 13-2 | 386 | 19 |
| 20 | Utah State | 14-1 | 241 | 20 |
| 21 | Clemson | 11-3 | 219 | 16 |
| 22 | Creighton | 11-4 | 187 | 22 |
| 23 | Gonzaga | 11-4 | 185 | 24 |
| 24 | Florida Atlantic | 11-4 | 165 | 17 |
| 25 | Texas | 11-3 | 148 | 20 |
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
| 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
Schedule revealed so far
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | ||
| 9 | Friday, 7 p.m. | vs. USC in Greensboro (exhibition) |
| 18 | Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis (exhibition) |
| November | ||
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 27 | Friday | vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday | at Georgetown |
| 15 | Tuesday (date tentative) | vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| January | ||
| 30 | Saturday | vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
ACC games
Home and away: Duke and Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Photo by Smith Hardy
