UNC one of two No. 1 seeds to slip in AP Top 25

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina fell one spot to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll as the Tar Heels enter the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional.

The Tar Heels (27–7), who beat Florida State 92–67 and Pittsburgh 72–65 in the ACC tournament in Washington but lost 84–76 to N.C. State in the championship game, open NCAA play at 2:45 Thursday at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. UNC meets the winner of the First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, between Howard (18–16) and Wagner (16–15) at 6:40 Tuesday (truTV).

UNC is ranked in the top five for the sixth time this season, the most since the 2015–16 Final Four team did it in nine polls. Twelve consecutive weeks in the top 10 is the 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.

JB Ricks of Spectrum News is one of four voters — along with Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald, Lauren Walsh of WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tenn., and Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun — who had UNC the highest at No. 3. Two voters had the Heels the lowest at No. 7 — Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register and Donna Ditota of the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted UNC No. 4 and Rodd Baxley of the Fayetteville Observer has the Heels No. 5.

Carolina, which garnered 1,325 poll points, down 36 from last week, wasn’t the only No. 1 NCAA seed and regular-season champion to slip up in conference tournaments.

No. 1 South seed Houston (30–4) lost 69–41 to Iowa State and was supplanted from the top ranking by UConn (31–3), which won the Big East title with a 73–57 victory over Marquette. The Cougars fell one spot to No. 2 while Iowa State (27–7) jumped three spots to No. 4 after also beating Baylor 76–62.

No. 1 Midwest seed Purdue (29–4) lost 76–75 in overtime to Wisconsin in the Big Ten semifinals but remained at No. 3.

Caleb Love’s Arizona team (25–8) dropped three spots to No. 9 after losing 67–59 to Oregon in the Pac-12 semifinals.

Tennesssee (24–8), fell one spot to No. 6 after losing 73–56 to Mississippi State in the SEC tournament.

Duke (24–8) dropped two spots to No. 13 after its 74–69 semifinal loss to N.C. State in the ACC tournament.

AP Top 25

RankingTeamRecordPoll
points		Previous
1UConn (61)31–31,5492
2Houston (1)30–41,4601
3Purdue29–41,4363
4Iowa State27–71,3427
5North Carolina27–71,3254
6Tennessee24–81,1585
7Auburn27–71,09612
8Marquette25–91,08210
9Arizona25–81,0806
10Illinois26–81,04013
11Creighton23–99208
12Kentucky23–98669
13Duke24–883411
14Baylor23–1080614
15Saint Mary’s26–756821
16South Carolina26–752715
17Kansas22–1044516
18Gonzaga25–741317
19Alabama21–1138019
20Utah State27–634618
21BYU23–1031020
22Texas Tech23–1020525
23Wisconsin22–1317523
24San Diego State24–1015824
25Washington State24–913822

Others receiving votes: New Mexico 134, Florida 120, Nevada 51, N.C. State 36, James Madison 31, Dayton 27, Drake 26, Oregon 12, Colorado 10, Nebraska 7, Texas 7, Boise St. 6, McNeese St. 6, Clemson 5, Mississippi St. 5, South Florida 3, Colorado St. 3, FAU 2.

West Regional

March 19 First Four result
No. 16 Wagner 71, No. 16 Howard 68
First-round results
Thursday, March 21
No. 9 Michigan State 69, No. 8 Mississippi State 51
No. 1 North Carolina 90, Wagner 62
No. 2 Arizona 85, No. 15 Long Beach State 65
No. 7 Dayton 63, No. 10 Nevada 60
Friday, March 22
No. 4 Alabama 109, No. 13 College of Charleston 96
No. 12 Grand Canyon 75, No. 5 St. Mary’s 66
No. 3 Baylor 92, No. 14 Colgate 67
No. 6 Clemson 77, No. 11 New Mexico 56
Last Saturday’s second-round results
Arizona 78, Dayton 68
North Carolina 85, Michigan State 69
Sunday’s second-round results
Clemson 72, Baylor 64
Alabama 72, Grand Canyon 61
Thursday’s regional semifinals
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
Clemson 77, Arizona 72
Alabama 98, North Carolina 87
Saturday’s regional final
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
Alabama 89, Clemson 82

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 courtesy of the ACC

Published by R.L. Bynum

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