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
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas (35) | 7–0 | 1,499 | 1 |
| 2 | Auburn (26) | 7–0 | 1,490 | 4 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 7–0 | 1,351 | 7 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 7–0 | 1,267 | 8 |
| 5 | Marquette | 8–0 | 1,246 | 10 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 5–1 | 1,225 | 5 |
| 7 | Gonzaga | 7–1 | 1,181 | 3 |
| 8 | Purdue | 7–1 | 1,058 | 13 |
| 9 | Duke | 5–2 | 941 | 11 |
| 10 | Alabama | 6–2 | 939 | 9 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 8–0 | 903 | 15 |
| 12 | Oregon | 8–0 | 806 | NR |
| 13 | Florida | 8–0 | 782 | 18 |
| 14 | Cincinnati | 6–0 | 774 | 16 |
| 15 | Baylor | 5–2 | 567 | 17 |
| 16 | Memphis | 6–1 | 500 | NR |
| 17 | Houston | 4–3 | 402 | 6 |
| 18 | Pittsburgh | 7–1 | 374 | NR |
| 19 | Illinois | 6–1 | 351 | NR |
| 20 | North Carolina | 4–3 | 292 | 12 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | 7–0 | 266 | NR |
| 22 | Texas A&M | 6–2 | 207 | 20 |
| 23 | Ole Miss | 6–1 | 156 | 23 |
| 24 | San Diego State | 4–2 | 143 | NR |
| 25 | UConn | 5–3 | 123 | 2 |
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.
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 9 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. 22 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. 12 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 No. 24 SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 6 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. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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