By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up three spots to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after the Tar Heels finished a season sweep of Duke for their sixth consecutive victory.
The Tar Heels (25–6, 17–3 ACC), the outright ACC regular-season champion, moved up thanks to their wins last week over Notre Dame on senior night (84–51) and the Blue Devils (84–79) and losses by teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll.
All but three voters had UNC No. 4. Kate Rogerson of WTVD was one of the three who voted UNC the lowest at No. 5, along with Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times and Nick Alvarez of the Alabama Media Group.
It’s UNC’s highest rank since it was No. 3 for three consecutive weeks from Jan. 22 to Feb. 5. It marked the Tar Heels’ fifth week in the top five, the most since the 2015–16 Final Four team did it in nine polls.
Eleven 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.
UNC’s 1,361 poll points are its most since garnering 1,441 when the Heels were No. 3 on Jan. 29.
No. 1-seed UNC opens play in the ACC tournament at Washington’s Capital One Arena on Thursday at noon with a quarterfinal game against the winner of Wednesday’s second-round game between No. 8-seed Virginia Tech (18–13, 10–10) and No. 9-seed Florida State (16–15, 10–10).
Losing last week and falling to 24–7 were:
— Tennessee, which fell one spot to No. 5 after an 85–81 home loss to Kentucky (which moved up six spots to No. 9).
— Caleb Love’s Arizona team, which dropped one spot to No. 6 after a 78–65 loss at unranked USC.
— Iowa State, which slipped one spot to No. 7 after a 65–58 loss to unranked Kansas State.
Duke (24–7, 15–5) fell two spots to No. 11.
Kentucky moving to No. 9 means that UNC has faced three top 10 non-conference teams, losing to the Wildcats and No. 2 UConn but beating No. 5 Tennessee.
AP Top 25
| Ranking | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (52) | 28–3 | 1,540 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (6) | 28–3 | 1,471 | 2 |
| 3 | Purdue (4) | 28–3 | 1,453 | 3 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 25-–6 | 1,361 | 7 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 24–7 | 1,291 | 4 |
| 6 | Arizona | 24–7 | 1,125 | 5 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 24–7 | 1,120 | 6 |
| 8 | Creighton | 23–8 | 1,094 | 10 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 23–8 | 1,018 | 15 |
| 10 | Marquette | 23–8 | 1,011 | 8 |
| 11 | Duke | 24–7 | 976 | 9 |
| 12 | Auburn | 24–7 | 914 | 13 |
| 13 | Illinois | 23–8 | 802 | 12 |
| 14 | Baylor | 22–9 | 786 | 11 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 25–6 | 567 | 17 |
| 16 | Kansas | 22–9 | 558 | 14 |
| 17 | Gonzaga | 24–6 | 511 | 19 |
| 18 | Utah State | 26–5 | 486 | 22 |
| 19 | Alabama | 21–10 | 432 | 16 |
| 20 | BYU | 22–9 | 381 | 20 |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s | 24–7 | 306 | 23 |
| 22 | Washington State | 23–8 | 223 | 18 |
| 23 | Nevada | 26–6 | 223 | NR |
| 24 | Dayton | 24–6 | 155 | 25 |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 22–9 | 149 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Boise St. 46, South Florida 27, San Diego St. 21, Drake 16, Texas 14, James Madison 14, FAU 11, Florida 8, Princeton 7, Nebraska 6, New Mexico 4, Colorado 2, McNeese St. 2, Colorado St. 1, Wake Forest 1, Indiana St 1.
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2 OTs
No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60
No. 5 North Carolina 76, Notre Dame 56
No. 7 Stanford 78, California 73
No. 6 SMU 73, Syracuse 53
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 (and No. 1-ranked) Duke 78, Georgia Tech 70
North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59
No. 2 (and No. 13-ranked) Louisville 75, Stanford 73
No. 3 (and No. 10-ranked) Clemson 57, SMU 54
Friday’s semifinals
Duke 72, North Carolina 71
Louisville 76, Clemson 73
Saturday’s championship
Duke 73, Louisville 62
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 10–0 | 21–1 | 1 |
| 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 | 38 |
| 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 | 72 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 101 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–7 | 11–11 | 142 |
| Notre Dame | 2–7 | 11–11 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 73 |
| Boston College | 2–7 | 9–13 | 153 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 111 |
* — Through Monday games
Monday’s result
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s games
No. 4 Duke 67, Boston College 49
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
Monday’s game
N.C. State at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Feb. 10, games
No. 14 North Carolina at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Virginia at Florida State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Notre Dame at SMU, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 4 Duke at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ESPN
| 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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