By R.L. Bynum
After splitting a pair of games in Las Vegas at the WBCA Challenge, North Carolina fell three spots to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll but are the highest-ranked ACC team.
The Tar Heels (3–1) played No. 3 UCLA (5–0) tough for one half before the Bruins pulled away Thursday for a 78–60 victory. UNC rebounded with an impressive 82–68 victory Saturday over Fairfield.
It’s the first time that UNC has been the top-ranked ACC team since it was No. 6 on Nov. 28, 2022, when Notre Dame was No. 7, in Coach Courtney Banghart’s fourth season in Chapel Hill.
UNC takes on two Greensboro schools with losing records this week, visiting N.C. A&T (2–3) at 7 p.m. Thursday (FloCollege) and hosting UNCG (1–3) at 6 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).
In other metrics, Carolina is No. 15 in the Torvik rankings, No. 20 in the Warren Nolan NET rankings and No. 26 in the Massey Ratings.
Three teams ahead of Carolina in last week’s poll that lost were:
— Oklahoma (4–1), which fell two spots to No. 8 after losing 73–59 to UCLA but beating Kansas City 89–61, North Alabama 89–61 and Western Carolina 94–32.
— Southern Cal (2–1), which dropped three spots to No. 11 after losing 69–52 to No. 2 South Carolina.
— N.C. State (2–2) fell six spots — tied for the biggest drop — to No. 16 after beating Maine 66–47 but losing 69–59 to TCU, which leaped seven spots to No. 10. The Wolfpack is the only ranked team without a winning record.
Duke (3–2) was ranked No. 15 last week but fell out of the poll with the 26th-most poll points after beating Norfolk State 83–32 and Liberty 71–57, but getting upset by West Virginia 57–49. The Mountaineers (4–0) made their debut in the poll this week at No. 23.
Notre Dame (3–1) plummeted six spots to No. 24 after beating Akron 85–58 but losing 93–54 to Michigan, which was the biggest riser, going up eight spots to No. 6.
Louisville (3–1) moved up one spot to No. 21 after beating Colorado 74–68, then beating Clemson 65–54 in the first ACC game.
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (28) | 794 | 4–0 |
| 2 | South Carolina (3) | 759 | 4–0 |
| 3 | UCLA (1) | 748 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Texas | 700 | 4–0 |
| 5 | LSU | 668 | 4–0 |
| 6 | Michigan | 560 | 3–0 |
| 7 | Baylor | 557 | 4–0 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 548 | 4–1 |
| 9 | Maryland | 529 | 5–0 |
| 10 | TCU | 521 | 4–0 |
| 11 | Southern California | 465 | 2–1 |
| 12 | Iowa State | 411 | 5–0 |
| 13 | Ole Miss | 406 | 3–0 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 401 | 3–1 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 354 | 3–1 |
| 16 | N.C. State | 284 | 2–2 |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 246 | 3–0 |
| 18 | Oklahoma State | 239 | 5–0 |
| 19 | Iowa | 202 | 4–0 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 199 | 5–0 |
| 21 | Louisville | 164 | 3–1 |
| 22 | Michigan State | 143 | 4–0 |
| 23 | West Virginia | 126 | 4–0 |
| 24 | Notre Dame | 121 | 3–1 |
| 25 | Washington | 103 | 3–0 |
Others receiving votes: Duke 89, Minnesota 24, Ohio St. 12, Stanford 8, South Dakota St. 7, Nebraska 6, Richmond 3, Princeton 2, Fairfield 1.
| 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. 4 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. 2 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 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 | 8 p.m. | at Boston College | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | Noon | vs. California | ACCN |
| 4 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Stanford | ESPN |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 18 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 15 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Miami | ACCN Extra |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Florida State | The CW |
| 22 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 25 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | The CW |
| 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 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. 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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