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.
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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
| Ranking | Team | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (61) | 31–3 | 1,549 | 2 |
| 2 | Houston (1) | 30–4 | 1,460 | 1 |
| 3 | Purdue | 29–4 | 1,436 | 3 |
| 4 | Iowa State | 27–7 | 1,342 | 7 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 27–7 | 1,325 | 4 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 24–8 | 1,158 | 5 |
| 7 | Auburn | 27–7 | 1,096 | 12 |
| 8 | Marquette | 25–9 | 1,082 | 10 |
| 9 | Arizona | 25–8 | 1,080 | 6 |
| 10 | Illinois | 26–8 | 1,040 | 13 |
| 11 | Creighton | 23–9 | 920 | 8 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 23–9 | 866 | 9 |
| 13 | Duke | 24–8 | 834 | 11 |
| 14 | Baylor | 23–10 | 806 | 14 |
| 15 | Saint Mary’s | 26–7 | 568 | 21 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 26–7 | 527 | 15 |
| 17 | Kansas | 22–10 | 445 | 16 |
| 18 | Gonzaga | 25–7 | 413 | 17 |
| 19 | Alabama | 21–11 | 380 | 19 |
| 20 | Utah State | 27–6 | 346 | 18 |
| 21 | BYU | 23–10 | 310 | 20 |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 23–10 | 205 | 25 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 22–13 | 175 | 23 |
| 24 | San Diego State | 24–10 | 158 | 24 |
| 25 | Washington State | 24–9 | 138 | 22 |
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.
South Regional
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday’s game
No. 16 Prairie View A&M 76, No. 16 Lehigh 55
FIRST ROUND
Thursday’s games
Oklahoma City
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese State 68
Greenville, S.C.
No. 11 VCU 86, No. 6 North Carolina 78, OT
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
Oklahoma City
No. 10 Texas A&M 73, No. 7 St. Mary’s 50
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
Friday’s games
Tampa, Fla.
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
No. 1 Florida 114, Prairie View A&M 55
SECOND ROUND
Saturday games
Oklahoma City
Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72
Greenville, S.C.
Illinois 76, VCU 55
Oklahoma City
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
Sunday game
Tampa, Fla.
Iowa 73, Florida 72
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Houston
Thursday, March 26
Iowa (23–12) vs. Nebraska (28–6)
Illinois (26–8) vs. Houston (30–6)
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Houston
Saturday, March 28
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. 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. 17 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. 11 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. 9 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 | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
