By R.L. Bynum
After escaping Clemson with its third consecutive win, all on the road, North Carolina has earned its highest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll ranking in more than two years.
The Tar Heels (21–4, 9–3 ACC), unbeaten on the road at 7–0, moved up one spot to No. 12 in the latest poll, released Monday, their best ranking since being No. 11 on Jan. 30, 2023. UNC, which dropped one spot in the NET rankings to 14th after Sunday’s win, has been ranked no lower than 19th this season after going unranked for the final six polls last season.
Charlie Creme’s ESPN bracket projection on Friday has UNC as a No. 3 seed in one of the Spokane regions, hosting first- and second-round games.
UNC, which beat Clemson 53–51 on Sunday, returns home for two challenging games this week — meeting Virginia Tech (16–8, 7–6) at 7 p.m. Thursday (ACC Network Extra) and N.C. State at 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPN).
The Wolfpack (19–4, 11–1) leapfrogged over UNC in the poll, going from No. 14 to No. 10 after beating Duke 89–83 and blowing out Florida State 97–74.
The Blue Devils (19–5, 10–2) went from No. 10 to No. 13 after rebounding from the loss to the Wolfpack with convincing victories over Clemson (74–55) and Miami (90–39).
The Seminoles (19–5, 9–3) slid from No. 22 to No. 23 after earlier rolling to a 101–68 victory over Virginia.
Notre Dame (21–2, 12–0) moved up one spot to No. 2 after blowout victories over Stanford (96–47) and California (91–52). The Bears (19–6, 7–5) went from No. 21 to out of the poll after also losing 70–63 to Louisville.
Georgia Tech (20–4) is the only other ranked ACC team, moving from No. 17 to No. 19 after wins over SMU (70–69) and Boston College (71–51).
Three teams just ahead of Carolina in last week’s poll lost in addition to Duke:
— Ohio State (20–3) went from No. 8 to No. 9 after losing 65–52 to No. 1 UCLA and 84–63 to Southern Cal.
—TCU (22–3) fell from No. 9 to No. 11 after losing 59–50 to Kansas State.
— The Wildcats (22–3) dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 after an 85–55 loss to Oklahoma.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Poll points (1st-place votes) | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 23–0 | 775 (31) | 1 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 21–2 | 733 | 3 |
| 3 | Texas | 24–2 | 713 | 4 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 22–2 | 687 | 2 |
| 5 | LSU | 25–1 | 646 | 6 |
| 6 | USC | 21–2 | 628 | 7 |
| 7 | UConn | 22–3 | 570 | 5 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 19–2 | 521 | 11 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 20–3 | 487 | 8 |
| 10 | N.C. State | 19–4 | 480 | 14 |
| 11 | TCU | 22–3 | 443 | 9 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 21–4 | 429 | 13 |
| 13 | Duke | 19–5 | 426 | 10 |
| 14 | Kansas State | 22–3 | 407 | 12 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 17–6 | 316 | 19 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 17–6 | 311 | 15 |
| 17 | Maryland | 19–5 | 290 | 16 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 19–4 | 258 | 18 |
| 19 | Georgia Tech | 20–4 | 257 | 17 |
| 20 | Oklahoma State | 19–4 | 156 | 25 |
| 21 | Alabama | 20–5 | 146 | 23 |
| 22 | Michigan State | 18–5 | 86 | 20 |
| 23 | Florida State | 19–5 | 78 | 22 |
| 24 | Creighton | 20–5 | 61 | NR |
| 25 | Baylor | 20–5 | 48 | NR |
Others receiving votes: California 38, Illinois 22, Vanderbilt 20, Utah 14, South Dakota St. 7, Michigan 6, Richmond 5, Mississippi 4, Columbia 3, Harvard 2, Louisville 1, Grand Canyon 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Louisville | 11–0 | 21–3 | 8 |
| No. 20 Duke | 11–0 | 16–6 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 8–2 | 15–6 | 28 |
| Syracuse | 8–3 | 18–4 | 40 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–3 | 18–5 | 42 |
| North Carolina | 6–3 | 17–5 | 22 |
| Virginia | 7–4 | 15–7 | 37 |
| Clemson | 7–4 | 16–7 | 38 |
| Notre Dame | 6–5 | 14–8 | 31 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–6 | 10–13 | 91 |
| Stanford | 4–5 | 15–7 | 36 |
| California | 4–6 | 13–10 | 54 |
| Miami | 4–7 | 12–10 | 45 |
| Florida State | 2–8 | 7–15 | 109 |
| Wake Forest | 2–9 | 12–11 | 118 |
| SMU | 1–9 | 8–14 | 180 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–9 | 8–15 | 260 |
| Boston College | 0–11 | 4–20 | 250 |
* — Through Saturday games
Sunday’s results
No. 20 Duke 80, Wake Forest 44
No 7 Louisville 71, California 59
Virginia Tech 76, Virginia 64
Syracuse 65, Miami 60
Georgia Tech 70, Boston College 60
Notre Dame 78, Stanford 66
Clemson 77, Florida State 58
Monday’s game
North Carolina at N.C. State, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Thursday’s games
Syracuse at Boston College, 6 p.m.
Stanford at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Clemson at North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Duke at No. 7 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Virginia, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Florida State at N.C. State, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Sunday, Feb. 8, games
No. 7 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
SMU at No. 20 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
| 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. 78 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 | 6 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN2 |
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ACCN |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 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. 20 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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