Carolina slides in AP Top 25 men’s poll after two Maui losses

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

After a chaotic week in men’s basketball, with 60% of the teams in last week’s AP Top 25 poll losing, North Carolina’s two losses dropped the Tar Heels eight spots to No. 20 in the latest poll.

It’s UNC’s lowest rank since it was No. 20 on Nov. 13, 2023, in the first regular-season poll last season.

The Tar Heels (4–3) beat Dayton 92–90 in the first round of the Maui Invitational but lost 83–81 in the semifinals to Auburn (which moved up two spots to No. 2) and 94–91 in overtime to Michigan State in the consolation game.

Carolina hosts Alabama (6–2) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN) in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge. The Tide fell one spot to No. 10 after losing in Las Vegas on Saturday to Oregon 83–81.

UConn (5–3), which went 0–3 in Maui, plummeted 23 spots to No. 25. Two other teams in last week’s poll lost twice: Houston (4–3; fell 11 spots to No. 17), Indiana (5–2; dropped from No. 14 to out of the poll), Creighton (5–3; went from No. 21 to out of the poll) and Caleb Love’s Arizona team (3–4; fell from No. 24 to out of the poll).

Duke (5–2), which lost 75–72 to No. 1 Kansas but beat Seattle 70–48, moved two spots to No. 9 and Pittsburgh (7–1) debuted in the poll at No. 18.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 13 is Brian Holland, a TV sportscaster in Louisiana, while 19 voters left the Tar Heels off their ballots.

Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted Carolina No. 18 while WRAL’s Louis Fernandez and WUNC’s Mitchell Northam have UNC No. 23.

AP Top 25

RankTeam
(1st-place
votes)		RecordPoll
points		Previous
1Kansas (35)7–01,4991
2Auburn (26)7–01,4904
3Tennessee7–01,3517
4Kentucky7–01,2678
5Marquette8–01,24610
6Iowa State5–11,2255
7Gonzaga7–11,1813
8Purdue7–11,05813
9Duke5–294111
10Alabama6–29399
11Wisconsin8–090315
12Oregon8–0806NR
13Florida8–078218
14Cincinnati6–077416
15Baylor5–256717
16Memphis6–1500NR
17Houston4–34026
18Pittsburgh7–1374NR
19Illinois6–1351NR
20North Carolina4–329212
21Oklahoma7–0266NR
22Texas A&M6–220720
23Ole Miss6–115623
24San Diego State4–2143NR
25UConn5–31232

Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 108, Arkansas 104, Texas 97, Michigan 95, Arizona St 89, Indiana 72, Drake 58, Xavier 33, Utah St. 28, Louisville 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 25, BYU 24, Dayton 24, Texas Tech 22, Nebraska 22, Mississippi St. 20, Ohio St. 19, Maryland 13, UCLA 13, Creighton 12, Saint Mary’s 11, Georgia 10, St. John’s 7, Loyola Chicago 4, Florida St. 3, DePaul 3, UC Irvine 2 and Columbia 2.

DateMonth/dayTime/
score		Opponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
15TuesdayW, 84–76at MemphisExhibition
27SundayW, 127–63vs. Johnson C. SmithExhibition
November
4MondayW, 90–76vs. Elon1–0
8FridayL, 92–89at No. 1 Kansas1–1
15FridayW, 107–55vs. American2–1
22FridayW, 85–69at Hawai’i3–1
Maui Invitational
25MondayW, 92–90Dayton4–1
26TuesdayL, 85–72No. 2 Auburn4–2
27WednesdayL, 94–91, OTMichigan State4–3
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
4Wednesday7:15vs. No. 10 AlabamaESPN
—————————
7Saturday2 p.m.vs. Georgia TechACCN
14Saturday4 p.m.vs. LaSalleThe CW
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
17Tuesday7 p.m.FloridaESPN
CBS Sports Classic
at Madison Square Garden
21Saturday3 p.m.UCLACBS
—————————
29Sunday8 p.m.vs. CampbellACCN
January
1WednesdayTBAat LouisvilleACCN
4SaturdayNoonat Notre DameCBS
7Tuesday9 p.m.vs. SMUACCN
11Saturday4 p.m.at N.C. StateACCN
15Wednesday7 p.m.vs. CalACCN
18Saturday2:15 vs. StanfordThe CW
21Tuesday9 p.m.at Wake ForestESPN
25Saturday2:15 p.m.vs. Boston CollegeThe W
28Tuesday9 p.m.at No. 18 PittsburghESPN
February
1Saturday6:30 p.m.at No. 9 DukeESPN
8Saturday4 p.m.vs. No. 18 PittsburghESPN or
ESPN2
10Monday7 p.m.at ClemsonESPN
15Saturday6 p.m.at SyracuseESPN
19Wednesday7 p.m.vs. N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
22Saturday4 p.m.vs. VirginiaESPN
24Monday7 p.m.at Florida StateESPN
March
1SaturdayNoonvs. MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
4Tuesday7 p.m.at Virginia TechESPN, ESPN2
orESPNU
8Saturday6:30vs. No. 9 DukeESPN
11–
15		Tues.–Sat.ACC tournament
Spectum Center, Charlotte

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

Published by R.L. Bynum

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