By R.L. Bynum
Carolina moved up two spots to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after a pair of victories last week, with another top-10 clash with Duke ahead on Saturday.
League-leading UNC (23–6, 15–3 ACC), which beat Miami 75–71 and N.C. State 79–71 in home games, hosts Notre Dame on senior night Tuesday night in Armando Bacot’s final home game.
The Tar Heels moved up thanks to losses by Marquette (22–7) and Kansas (21–8), who were both ahead of them in last week’s poll. The Golden Eagles fell three spots to No. 8 after an 89–65 loss to Creighton, which moved up two spots to No. 10. The Jayhawks dropped seven spots to No. 14 after a 76–68 loss to BYU (21–8), which went from unranked to No. 20.
Ten consecutive weeks in the top 10 is Carolina’s longest streak in one season since the 2016 Final Four team was No. 9 or better — peaking at No. 2 — in the last 13 polls. The Tar Heels were in the top 10 for 13 straight weeks over two seasons from Jan. 28, 2019, to Dec. 2, 2019.
Carolina is in the top 10 for the 702nd time, the third-most all-time, and the 13th time this season.
UNC’s 1,201 poll points are the most since garnering 1,216 three polls ago when the Tar Heels were also ranked No. 7.
JB Ricks of Spectrum News was one of 13 voters with UNC ranked the highest at No. 5. Nick Alvarez of the Alabama Media Group voted the Tar Heels the lowest at No. 10.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD was one of 16 who voted UNC No. 6. Rodd Baxley of The Fayetteville Observer was one of 22 who had the Tar Heels No. 7. Four voters had UNC No. 8 and six voters had the Tar Heels No. 9.
Duke (23–6, 14–4), which visits N.C. State at 7 p.m. Monday night (ESPN) before hosting Carolina at 6:30 Saturday (ESPN), slid up one spot to No. 9 after beating Louisville 84–59 and Virginia 73–48. That means that, like for UNC’s 93–84 win in Chapel Hill on Feb. 3, the Heels and Blue Devils will face each other with both in the top 10. For that game, UNC was No. 3 and Duke No. 7.
Voters had the Blue Devils as high as six (four voters) and as low as No. 17 (one voter).
No other ACC teams even received votes.
Even though neither UNC nor Duke played on Sunday, they swapped positions in the NET rankings after Sunday’s games, with the Tar Heels going from 10th to ninth and the Blue Devils going from ninth to 10th.
Caleb Love’s Arizona team (23–6) moved up one spot to No. 5 after rolling to wins over Arizona State (85–67) and Oregon (103–83).
AP Top 25
| Ranking | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (52) | 26–3 | 1,539 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (6) | 26–3 | 1,462 | 3 |
| 3 | Purdue (4) | 26–3 | 1,459 | 2 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 23–6 | 1,364 | 4 |
| 5 | Arizona | 23–6 | 1,252 | 6 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 23–6 | 1,212 | 8 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 23–6 | 1,201 | 9 |
| 8 | Marquette | 22–7 | 1,056 | 5 |
| 9 | Duke | 23–6 | 1,051 | 10 |
| 10 | Creighton | 22–8 | 983 | 12 |
| 11 | Baylor | 21–8 | 901 | 15 |
| 12 | Illinois | 22–7 | 834 | 13 |
| 13 | Auburn | 22–7 | 746 | 11 |
| 14 | Kansas | 21–8 | 723 | 7 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 21–8 | 711 | 16 |
| 16 | Alabama | 20–9 | 592 | 14 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 24–5 | 579 | 18 |
| 18 | Washington State | 23–7 | 484 | 19 |
| 19 | Gonzaga | 24–6 | 396 | 23 |
| 20 | BYU | 21–8 | 343 | NR |
| 21 | San Diego State | 22–7 | 338 | 20 |
| 22 | Utah State | 24–5 | 285 | 22 |
| 23 | Saint Mary’s | 24–7 | 268 | 17 |
| 24 | South Florida | 22–5 | 154 | 25 |
| 25 | Dayton | 22–6 | 50 | 21 |
Others receiving votes: Nevada 42, Florida 39, Boise St. 26, Texas 10, Texas Tech 10, Indiana St 9, Appalachian St 6, New Mexico 5, FAU 4, James Madison 4, Princeton 3, Michigan St. 2, Villanova 2, Colorado St. 2, McNeese St. 2, Richmond 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 9–0 | 20–1 | 2 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 8–1 | 18–4 | 31 |
| No. 18 Virginia | 7–2 | 18–3 | 18 |
| N.C. State | 7–2 | 16–6 | 26 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 6–3 | 18–4 | 25 |
| Miami | 6–3 | 17–5 | 39 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 5–4 | 15–6 | 17 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–5 | 16–7 | 56 |
| SMU | 4–4 | 15–6 | 34 |
| California | 4–5 | 16–6 | 51 |
| Syracuse | 4–6 | 13–10 | 78 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 102 |
| Boston College | 2–6 | 9–12 | 152 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–7 | 11–11 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–7 | 11–11 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 114 |
* — Through Saturday games
Saturday’s games
No. 14 North Carolina 91, Georgia Tech 75
No. 4 Duke 72, Virginia Tech 58
N.C. State 96, Wake Forest 78
No. 20 Clemson 63, Pittsburgh 52
No. 18 Virginia 73, Boston College 66
No. 24 Louisville 88, SMU 74
California 86, Miami 81
Florida State 88, Stanford 80
Syracuse 86, Notre Dame 72
Monday’s game
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 18 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at SMU, 9 p.m, ESPN2
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 16 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 11 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 18 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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