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. 11 Duke | 13–0 | 18–6 | 9 |
| No. 9 Louisville | 12–1 | 22–4 | 8 |
| N.C. State | 10–3 | 17–7 | 23 |
| No. 21 North Carolina | 9–3 | 20–5 | 19 |
| Syracuse | 9–4 | 19–5 | 38 |
| 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 | 29 |
| California | 6–6 | 15–10 | 51 |
| Georgia Tech | 6–7 | 11–14 | 88 |
| Stanford | 5–7 | 16–9 | 42 |
| Miami | 4–9 | 12–12 | 57 |
| Florida State | 3–9 | 8–16 | 103 |
| Wake Forest | 3–10 | 13–12 | 128 |
| SMU | 1–11 | 8–16 | 192 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 8–17 | 257 |
| Boston College | 0–13 | 4–22 | 252 |
* — Through Tuesday games
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
Thursday, Feb. 19, games
No. 21 North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at No. 11 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN
Boston College at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Stanford at Miami, 8 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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