By R.L. Bynum
After rallying at No. 1 Kansas and narrowly losing 92–89 on Friday, North Carolina slipped one spot to No. 10 in the first regular-season AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll of the season.
UNC swapped spots with Caleb Love’s Arizona team (2–0), which moved up to No. 9.
It is the 16th consecutive week that UNC has been ranked in the top 10, the longest streak since doing it in 20 polls in a row from Dec. 21, 2016, through Dec. 26, 2017. The Tar Heels’ record is 62 consecutive weeks in the top 10 from March 6, 2006, until Nov. 16, 2010.
The Jayhawks (2–0) stayed atop the poll, and Alabama (2–0), which visits UNC on Dec. 4, remained at No. 2. UConn (2–0), a potential Maui Invitational opponent on the third day on Nov. 27, stayed at No. 3.
The Tar Heels (1–1), who opened the season Monday with a 90–76 home win over Elon, return to the Smith Center for an 8 p.m. Friday game (ACC Network) against American (1–1). The Eagles, who lost 65–52 at La Salle on Monday and beat Harvard 67–55 at home on Sunday, play at Siena at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN+).
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Duke (2–0), which won a pair of home games, beating Maine 96–62 and Army 100–58, is the only other ACC team in the poll at No. 6, up one spot. The Blue Devils face their first test of the season at 9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN) when they face No. 19 Kentucky (2–0; up four spots) in Atlanta as part of the Champions Classic.
Brian Holland of WVLA-TV/WGMB-TV in Baton Rouge, La., voted UNC the highest at No. 4 after only voting the Tar Heels No. 13 in the preseason poll, thus having them leapfrog six undefeated teams. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News and Stephen Means of Cleveland.com voted the Tar Heels the lowest at No. 15.
The voting distribution included two No. 6 votes, six No. 7 votes, four No. 8 votes, 14 No. 9 votes, eight No. 10 votes, 12 No. 11 votes, three No. 13 votes and two No. 14 votes.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD and Louis Fernandez of WRAL each had UNC No. 12, while Mitchell Northam of WUNC voted the Tar Heels No. 13.
Other teams ranked in the preseason poll that lost were:
— Houston, which fell from No. 4 to No. 8 after a 74–69 loss to Auburn (which jumped from No. 11 to No. 5 and is a potential UNC opponent on the second day of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26).
— Baylor, which slipped from No. 8 to No. 12 after beating Arkansas 72–67 but losing at Gonzaga (which went from No. 6 to No. 3) 101–63.
— Texas A&M, which fell from No. 13 to No. 23 after losing 64–61 to Central Florida.
— Arkansas, which fell from No. 16 to No 18 after its loss to Baylor.
— Texas, which dropped from No. 19 to out of the poll after an 80–72 defeat to Ohio State.
— Florida, which dipped from No. 21 to out of the poll after a 98–83 loss to South Florida. UNC faces the Gators at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte on Dec. 17
— UCLA, which went from No. 22 to getting no votes after a 72–64 loss to New Mexico.
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Illinois 144, Texas Tech 102, Wake Forest 84, Xavier 78, Texas 51, Michigan State 41, BYU 26, Kansas State 24, UCF 20, Mississippi State 15, New Mexico 15, Oregon 14, North Florida 14, Miami 14, Clemson 13, VCU 12, Memphis 8, Grand Canyon 6, Wisconsin 6, Providence 4, Maryland 3, Austin Peay 2, Arizona State 2, South Dakota State 1, Dayton 1, Columbia 1 and Michigan 1.
Dropped from rankings: Texas 19 and UCLA 22
| 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 UNC Athletics
