ACC-leading UNC continues rise in AP men’s Top 25

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 3 in the latest Top 25 men’s basketball poll, the Tar Heels’ highest January rank since the 2016 Final Four team was No. 2 in the last two polls that month.

This is the 36th season that Carolina has been ranked No. 3 or higher, with the Tar Heels winning their first seven ACC games for the first time since that 2015–16 team won its first eight. UNC has won six consecutive ACC games by double digits for the first time since the 1993 national championship team won 10 in a row.

The Tar Heels (15–3, 7–0 ACC) lead the league by two games over N.C. State (13–5), Wake Forest (13–5) and Florida State (11–7), who are each 5–2 in the league.

UNC, which got no first-place votes after getting one last week, hosts the Deacons at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPN).

Carolina is one of only four schools (and the only ACC school) ranked in both the men’s and women’s poll, with the second-best average rank (No. 3 men and No. 20 women) of 11.5, behind only UConn (No. 1 men and No. 9 women) at No. 5. Baylor (No. 15 men and No. 13 women) averages at No. 14 and Creighton (No. 17 men, No. 21 women) averages at 19.

UNC — 7th in KenPom, 8th in Team Rankings and 9th in Bart Torvik’s rankings — moved up after Kansas (15–3) lost 91–85 at West Virginia and fell four spots to No. 7.

Eight voters ranked the Tar Heels No. 2, including JB RIcks of Spectrum News and Rodd Boxley of the Fayetteville Observer, the latter in his second week as an AP voter, taking the place of Luke DeCock of The News & Observer. David Jablonski of the Dayton Daily News had UNC the lowest at No. 7. Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted UNC No. 3. Forty voters had the Tar Heels No. 3.

Duke (13–4, 4–2), the only other ranked ACC team, fell five spots to No. 12 after losing 80–76 at home to Pittsburgh (11–7, 2–5) on Saturday.

Carolina has played half of the top-six teams, losing to No. 1 UConn (17–2) and No. 6 Kentucky (14–3; up two spots) and beating No. 5 Tennessee (14–4; up one spot). The Tar Heels also have a win over No. 11 Oklahoma (15–3; up four spots).

Two other teams fell out of the top 10 after losing twice:
— Baylor (14–4) dropped from No. 9 to No. 15 after losing in overtime 68–64 to Kansas State and falling 75–73 against Texas.
— Memphis (15–4) slipped from No. 10 to No. 19 after losing to South Florida 74–73 and Tulane 81–79.

AP Top 25

RankingTeam
(1st-place votes_		RecordPoll
points		Previous
1UConn (44)17–21,5081
2Purdue (17)17–21,4722
3North Carolina15–31,3914
4Houston16–21,3095
5Tennessee14–41,2376
6Kentucky14–31,2058
7Kansas15–31,1573
8Auburn16–21,09413
9Arizona14–41,06012
10Illinois14–486214
11Oklahoma15–384915
12Duke13–48327
13Wisconsin14–480111
14Marquette13–574717
15Baylor14–46459
16Dayton15–254621
17Creighton14–550518
18Utah State17–238116
19Memphis15–432910
20Texas Tech15–330425
21BYU14–429420
22Florida Atlantic15–429023
23Iowa State14–425324
24Colorado State15–3214NR
25New Mexico16–3177NR

Others receiving votes: Seton Hall 84, San Diego State 64, Kansas State 39, Alabama 30, TCU 27, Ole Miss 25, Princeton 21, Utah 20, Texas 16, Boise State 9, Florida 6, Gonzaga 6, Grand Canyon 5, Michigan State 3, Saint Mary’s (CA) 2, N.C. State 1, San Francisco 1, Indiana State 1, Samford 1, McNeese State 1, Colorado 1.

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 via @UNC_Basketball

Published by R.L. Bynum

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