By R.L. Bynum
After two home ACC victories last week, North Carolina jumped five spots in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll to No. 14 to tie the Tar Heels’ highest rank of the season.
UNC (15–3, 3–2 ACC) knocked off Duke 53–46 in overtime on Thursday and surged past Boston College 80–67 on Sunday, earning their 15th victory, the fastest to 15 since the 2021–22 Tar Heels went 25–7 and made the NCAA Sweet 16.
Carolina was No. 14 on Nov. 11 in the first regular-season poll of the season but fell two spots the next week after the Tar Heels’ 69–58 loss to UConn in Greensboro on Nov. 15. The Tar Heels were last ranked higher than that when they were No. 11 on Jan. 30, 2023.
Carolina is also 14th in the all-important NET rankings, with a 2–3 record in Quad 1 games, 4–0 in Quad 2 games, 2–0 in Quad 3 games and 7–0 in Quad 4 games. UNC is 15th in The Athletic’s power rankings and 19th in the Massey Ratings.
UNC plays two road games this week, facing SMU (10–7, 2–2) at 8 p.m. ET Thursday (ACC Network Extra) and Pittsburgh (9–9, 1–4) at 2 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).
Duke was one of five teams ranked within six spots above UNC in last week’s poll to lose.
Previously undefeated Georgia Tech (15–2, 3–2), which lost to Virginia Tech 105–94 in overtime Thursday and 69–60 to Louisville on Sunday, fell four spots to No. 17. The Blue Devils (13–4, 4–1) dropped two positions to No. 16 after rebounding with a 60–55 win Sunday at Virginia.
Other teams just ahead of UNC in last week’s poll to lose were Tennessee (14–2), which moved up one spot after an 89–87 loss to LSU (which moved up one spot to No. 5), and West Virginia, which dropped three spots to No. 20 after a 64–57 setback against Oklahoma State.
California (16–2, 4–1) jumped six spots to No. 18 after beating N.C. State 78–71 and Florida State 82–70. The Wolfpack (12–4, 4–1) stayed at No. 21 after rebounding to beat Stanford 81–67.
The only other ACC team in the poll is first-place Notre Dame (14–2, 5–0), which remained at No. 3 and received two first-place votes.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA (29) | 16–0 | 773 | 1 |
| 2 | South Carolina | 16–1 | 740 | 2 |
| 3 | Notre Dame (2) | 14–2 | 710 | 3 |
| 4 | Southern Cal | 16–1 | 680 | 4 |
| 5 | LSU | 18–0 | 625 | 6 |
| 6 | UConn | 15–2 | 599 | 7 |
| 7 | Texas | 16–2 | 580 | 5 |
| 8 | Maryland | 15–1 | 556 | 8 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 16–0 | 553 | 9 |
| 10 | TCU | 17–1 | 501 | 11 |
| 11 | Kansas State | 17–1 | 492 | 12 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 15–1 | 428 | 15 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 14–3 | 383 | 10 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 15–3 | 360 | 19 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 14–2 | 327 | 16 |
| 16 | Duke | 13–4 | 313 | 14 |
| 17 | Georgia Tech | 15–2 | 248 | 13 |
| 18 | California | 16–2 | 240 | 24 |
| 19 | Alabama | 16–2 | 235 | 18 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 13–3 | 178 | 17 |
| 21 | N.C. State | 12–4 | 131 | 21 |
| 22 | Michigan State | 13–3 | 117 | 20 |
| 23 | Utah | 13–3 | 91 | 22 |
| T24 | Minnesota | 16–1 | 45 | NR |
| T24 | Oklahoma State | 14–2 | 45 | NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Michigan 43, Mississippi St. 22, Indiana 14, Creighton 12, Nebraska 11, Baylor 8, Louisville 5, Harvard 3, Mississippi 3, Florida St. 2, Iowa 1 and Vanderbilt 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Duke | 13–0 | 18–6 | 9 |
| No. 9 Louisville | 12–1 | 22–4 | 7 |
| N.C. State | 10–3 | 17–7 | 24 |
| No. 21 North Carolina | 9–3 | 20–5 | 19 |
| Syracuse | 9–4 | 19–5 | 37 |
| Virginia | 9–4 | 17–7 | 36 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–5 | 18–7 | 44 |
| Clemson | 8–5 | 17–8 | 39 |
| Notre Dame | 7–6 | 15–9 | 30 |
| California | 6–6 | 15–10 | 51 |
| Georgia Tech | 6–7 | 11–14 | 90 |
| Stanford | 5–7 | 16–9 | 42 |
| Miami | 4–9 | 12–12 | 55 |
| Florida State | 3–9 | 8–16 | 104 |
| Wake Forest | 3–10 | 13–12 | 131 |
| SMU | 1–11 | 8–16 | 191 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 8–17 | 256 |
| Boston College | 0–13 | 4–22 | 252 |
* — Through Sunday games
Sunday’s results
No. 21 North Carolina 84, Wake Forest 56
No. 9 Louisville 84, Syracuse 65
N.C. State 82, Virginia Tech 62
California 95, Pittsburgh 80
No. 11 Duke 95, SMU 36
Virginia 81, Notre Dame 70
Florida State 87, Miami 70
Georgia Tech 74, Stanford 52
Clemson 83, Boston College 59
Thursday’s games
SMU at No. 21 North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at No. 9 Louisville, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Sunday’s games
Pittsburgh at SMU, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
No. 21 North Carolina at No. 11 Duke, 1 p.m., ABC
Virginia at Stanford, 2 p.m., The CW
Clemson at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida State at No. 6 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 9 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 11 Duke | ABC |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. No. 11 Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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