UNC falls in AP Top 25, but extends longest top-10 streak in five seasons

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina fell four spots to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll as one of four teams in the top 10 of last week’s poll to lose.

The league-leading Tar Heels (19–5, 11–2 ACC) rebounded from Tuesday’s 80–76 home loss to Clemson with a 75–72 victory Saturday at Miami.

Carolina’s poll points total fell from 1,352 to 1,216, the fewest since garnering 1,213 when the Tar Heels were No. 7 on Jan. 8.

Seven consecutive weeks in the top 10 is the longest for UNC since doing it 13 straight weeks from Jan. 28, 2019, to Dec. 2, 2019. It’s the longest such streak in one season since UNC was in the top 10 for the final eight 2019 polls.

Seven voters ranked UNC the highest at No. 4 and eight voters voted the Tar Heels the lowest at No. 8. Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted UNC No. 5, Rodd Baxley of the Faytteville Observer had Carolina No. 6 and JB Ricks of Spectrum News voted UNC No. 7.

In other metrics, UNC is No. 4 in KPI, No. 8 in KenPom, No. 10 in the NET rankings, No. 10 in BPI and No. 12 in Bart Torvik’s T-Rank.

After easy wins over Notre Dame (71–53) and Boston College (80–65), Duke (18–5, 9–3) remained at No. 9.

Virginia (19–5, 10–3) gave the ACC a third ranked team, debuting in the poll at No. 21.


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Kansas (19–5) fell two spots to No. 6 after losing 75–70 to Kansas State in overtime but beating Baylor 64–61. The Bears (17–6), who beat Kerwin Walton’s Texas Tech team 79–73, move dup one spot to No. 12. The Red Raiders (17–6), previously No. 23, fell out of the poll.

Tennessee (17–6) dropped two spots after am 85–69 loss at Texas A&M.

Illinois (17–6), which lost to Michigan State 88–80 in its only game last week, fell four spots to No. 14.

Marquette (18–8) leapfrogged Kansas, UNC and Tennessee, going up three spots to No. 4 after beating St. John’s 86–75.

Caleb Love’s Arizona team (19–5) jumped three spots to No. 5 after winning at Utah 105–99 in triple overtime and at Colorado 99–79.


AP Top 25

RankingTeam
(1st-place votes)
RecordPoll
points
Previous
1UConn (45)22–21,5091
2Purdue (16)22–21,4802
3Houston21–31,3865
4Marquette18–51,2737
5Arizona19–51,2418
6Kansas19–51,2274
7North Carolina19–51,2163
8Tennessee17–61,0336
9Duke18–51,0259
10Iowa State18–596914
11South Carolina21–392115
12Baylor17–681113
13Auburn19–579912
14Illinois17–672810
15Alabama17–761816
16Dayton19–442518
17Creighton17–741019
18Saint Mary’s20–6296NR
19BYU17–629421
20Wisconsin16–824911
21Virginia19–5218NR
22Kentucky16–721717
23Indiana State22–3209NR
24Florida Atlantic19–520620
25Oklahoma18–6178NR

Others receiving votes: Utah St. 160, Colorado St. 145, Texas Tech 111, San Diego St. 84, Washington St 82, Clemson 57, Nevada 57, Gonzaga 50, New Mexico 27, Florida 19, Michigan St. 17, Texas A&M 16, Grand Canyon 13, Mississippi 12, TCU 10, Texas 9, Memphis 8, South Florida 7, Northwestern 2, UNC Wilmington 1.


UNC season statistics

TeamLeagueOverallNET*WAB*
No. 1 Duke17–129–212
No. 10 Virginia15–327–41311
Miami13–524–73228
No. 19 North Carolina12–624–72319
Clemson12–622–93633
No. 24 Louisville11–722–91425
N.C. State10–819–123545
Florida State10–817–146974
California9–921–106549
Stanford9–920–115951
SMU8–1019–123950
Virginia Tech8–1019–125352
Wake Forest7–1116–156481
Syracuse6–1215–168392
Pittsburgh5–1312–19109146
Notre Dame4–1413–1893121
Boston College4–1411–20159217
Georgia Tech2–1611–20167210

* — 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


DateMonth/dayScoresOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 17 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 11 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20SaturdayW, 71–70vs. Ohio State11–1
—————————
22MondayW, 99–51vs. East Carolina12–1
30TuesdayW, 79–66vs. Florida State13–1,
1–0 ACC
January
3SaturdayL, 97–83at SMU13–2, 1–1
10SaturdayW, 87–84vs. Wake Forest14–2, 2–1
14WednesdayL, 95–90at Stanford14–3, 2–2
17SaturdayL, 84–78at California14–4, 2–3
21WednesdayW, 91–69vs. Notre Dame15–4, 3–3
24SaturdayW, 85–80at No. 9 Virginia16–4, 4–3
31SaturdayW, 91–75at Georgia Tech17–4, 5–3
February
2MondayW, 87–77vs. Syracuse18–4, 6–3
7SaturdayW, 71–68vs. No. 1 Duke19–4, 7–3
10TuesdayL, 75–66at No. 25 Miami19–5, 7–4
14SaturdayW, 79–65vs. Pittsburgh20–5, 8–4
17TuesdayL, 82–58at N.C. State20–6, 8–5
21SaturdayW, 77–64at Syracuse21–6, 9–5
23MondayW, 77–74vs. Louisville22–6, 10–5
28SaturdayW, 89–82vs. Virginia Tech23–6, 11–5
March
3TuesdayW, 67–63vs. Clemson24–6, 12–5
7SaturdayL, 76–61at No. 1 Duke24–7, 12–6
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament
Spectrum Center,
Charlotte
12ThursdayL, 80–79Quarterfinals:
vs. Clemson
24–8
NCAA
tournament
19ThursdayL, 82–78, OTFirst round: vs. VCU
in Greenville, S.C.
24–9

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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