By R.L. Bynum

After splitting a pair of ACC games last week, North Carolina fell three spots to No. 23 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

The Tar Heels (12–5, 4–1 ACC) lost Thursday 70–62 at Florida State (14–4, 5–1), which moved up six spots to No. 15, before knocking off Virginia 81–68 Sunday on Alumni Day at Carmichael Arena.

UNC is 36th in the NET rankings, which would project the Tar Heels as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament, and 25th in the Massey Ratings.

ESPN’s bracket projection before the weekend games had Carolina as the No. 6 seed in the Columbia, S.C, Region, playing first- and second-round games in Storrs, Conn., with a potential second-round matchup against No. 9 UConn (which is up four spots).

Carolina is on the road again Thursday at 6 p.m. (ACC Network) against Georgia Tech (12–5, 3–2) before meeting league-leading No. 13 Louisville (15–2, 4–0; up two spots) in Carmichael Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).

Virginia Tech (13–3, 4–1) also lost to Florida State, falling 89–81 on Sunday, and dropped three spots to No. 13.

Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 4 N.C. State (15–1, 3–1; up two spots) and No. 19 Notre Dame (12–3, 3–2), which rebounded from the home loss to the Tar Heels with two ACC wins last week but still fell one spot.

Voting UNC the highest at No. 14 were Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter, and Payton Titus of The State in Columbia, S.C. Kelly Gramlich of ACC Network has the Tar Heels No. 15.

Nine voters left Carolina off their ballots (see list below.)

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AP Top 25

Rank	Team	Record	Poll points	Previous
1	South Carolina (36 1st-place votes)	14–0	900	1
2	Iowa	17–1	843	3
3	Colorado	15–1	814	5
4	N.C. State	15–1	777	6
5	UCLA	14–1	750	2
6	Southern Cal	13–1	744	9
7	Kansas State	17–1	692	12
8	Stanford	15–2	608	8
9	UConn	14–3	597	13
10	LSU	16–2	537	7
11	Texas	16–2	515	10
12	Baylor	14–2	492	4
13	Louisville	15–2	460	15
14	Virginia Tech	13–3	419	11
15	Florida State	14–4	365	21
16	Indiana	14–2	351	14
17	Gonzaga	16–2	345	16
18	Ohio State	13–3	336	17
19	Notre Dame	11–4	301	18
20	Utah	12–5	187	19
21	Creighton	13–3	144	22
22	Marquette	15–2	129	23
23	North Carolina	12–5	106	20
24	Iowa State	12–4	80	NR
25	UNLV	14–1	69	25

Others receiving votes: Oregon St. 59, West Virginia 29, Syracuse 25, Vanderbilt 8, Princeton 7, Auburn 5, Fairfield 4, Michigan St. 2.

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How voters ranked Tar Heels

Alex Simon, SF Gate — 23
Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier-Journal — 23
Brenda VanLengen, ESPN — 23
Carl Adamec, Hearst CT Media — 22
Cassandra Negley, Yahoo — 24
Christy Winters Scott NBC — 23
Cora Hall, Knoxville News Sentinel — 23
Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman — 21
Emily Adams, The Greenville News — left off ballot
Jeff Linder, Cedar Rapids Gazette — left off ballot
Joe Vozzelli, The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. — 24
Kelly Gramlich, ACC Network — 15
Kent Youngblood, Minneapolis Star-Tribune — 24
Kevin Tresolini, Delawareonline.com — 21
Kim Adams, Fox Sports — 19
Lindsay Schnell, USA Today — 19
Michael Voepel, ESPN — 24
Marisa Ingemi, San Francisco Chronicle — 25
Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader — 25
Meghan McKeown, Big Ten Network — 25
Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal — left off ballot
Michelle Smith, The Next — left off ballot
Mitchell Northam, WUNC — 14
Payton Titus, The State — 14
Percy Allen, Seattle Times — left off ballot
P.J. Brown, Arizona Daily Star — left off ballot
Rebecca Lobo, ESPN — 24
Reed Darcey, The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La. — 22
Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle — 25
Roger Cleaveland, Waterbury Republican-American — left off ballot
Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic — 21
Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald — 24
Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Leader in Jackson, Miss. — 24
Stu Durando, St. Louis Post-Dispatch — left off ballot
Zack Smith, Waco Tribune — left off ballot

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ACC standings

Team	League	Overall
No. 11 Virginia Tech	14–4	23–6
No. 10 N.C. State	13–5	25–5
No. 20 Syracuse	13–5	23–6
No. 14 Notre Dame	13–5	23–6
No. 24 Louisville	12–6	23–8
Florida State	12–6	21–9
Duke	11–7	19–10
North Carolina	11–7	19–11
Miami	8–10	18–11
Georgia Tech	7–11	16–14
Virginia	7–11	15–14
Boston College	5–13	13–18
Clemson	5–13	12–18
Pittsburgh	2–16	8–23
Wake Forest	2–16	6–24

Sunday’s games
North Carolina 63, Duke 59
Boston College 84, Pittsburgh 58
No. 10 N.C. State 75, Wake Forest 57
No. 14 Notre Dame 74, No. 24 Louisville 58
Georgia Tech 71, Miami 66, OT
Florida State 82, Clemson 79
Virginia 80, No. 11 Virginia Tech 75
ACC tournament
Greensboro Coliseum
Wednesday-Sunday

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Date	Day/month	Score	Opponent/event (current rank)	Record
	November
8	Wednesday	W, 102–49	vs. Gardner-Webb	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 74–70	vs. Davidson	2–0
15	Wednesday	W, 62–32	vs. Hampton	3–0
18	Saturday	W, 68–39	vs. Elon	4–0
			Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
24	Friday	W, 54–51	Vermont	5–0
25	Saturday	L, 63–56	No. 15 Kansas State	5–1
26	Sunday	L, 65–64	Florida Gulf Coast	5–2
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
30	Thursday	L, 65–58	vs. No. 1 South Carolina	5–3
	December
6	Wednesday	W, 81–66	vs. UNC Greensboro	6–3
			Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn.
10	Sunday	L, 76–64	No. 10 Connecticut	6–4
			———————
15	Friday	W, 96–36	vs. Western Carolina	7–4
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
19	Tuesday	W, 61–52	No. 18 Oklahoma	8–4
			ACC season
31	Sunday	W, 82–76	vs. Clemson	9–4, 1–0 ACC
	January
4	Thursday	W, 75–51	vs. No. 22 Syracuse	10–4, 2–0 ACC
7	Sunday	W, 61–57	at No. 9 Notre Dame	11–4, 3–0 ACC
11	Thursday	L, 70–62	at Florida State	11–5, 3–1 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 81–68	vs. Virginia	12–5, 4–1 ACC
18	Thursday	W, 73–68	at Georgia Tech	13–5, 5–1 ACC
21	Sunday	W, 79–68	vs. No. 23 Louisville	14–5, 6–1 ACC
25	Thursday	W, 66–61	vs. Miami	15–5, 7–1 ACC
28	Sunday	L, 81–66	at Virginia	15–6, 7–2 ACC
	February
1	Thursday	L, 63–59	at No. 11 N.C. State	15–7, 7–3 ACC
4	Sunday	L, 70–61, OT	vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech	15–8, 7–4 ACC
11	Sunday	L, 68–60, OT	at Duke	15–9, 7–5 ACC
15	Thursday	W, 75–62	vs. Pittsburgh	16–9, 8–5 ACC
18	Sunday	W, 58–50	at Wake Forest	17–9, 9–5 ACC
22	Thursday	W, 80–70	vs. No. 11 N.C. State	18–9, 10–5 ACC
25	Sunday	L, 74–62	at No. 13 Virginia Tech	18–10, 10–6 ACC
29	Thursday	L, 78–74	at Boston College	18–11, 10–7 ACC
	March
3	Sunday	W, 63–59	vs. Duke	19–11, 11–7 ACC
			ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum
7	Thursday	L, 60–59	Second round: vs. Miami	19–12
			NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C.
22	Friday	W, 59–56	First round: Michigan State	20–12
24	Sunday	L, 88–41	Second round: No. 1 South Carolina	20–13

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics