By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 men’s poll to No. 16 on Monday after beating Navy in its only game last week.
The Tar Heels (5–0), who beat the Midshipmen 73–61 on Tuesday, are ranked the highest since they were No. 12 nearly one year ago on Nov. 25.
The competition ramps up for UNC this week in Florida at the Fort Myers Tip-Off, where the Tar Heels will face two 5–0 teams: St. Bonaventure at 6 p.m. Tuesday (FS1) and No. 11 Michigan State at 4:30 p.m. Thursday (Fox). Get a preview of the St. Bonaventure game here.
The Spartans made the biggest jump in the poll, going up six spots, after blowing out Kentucky 83–66 last week and thumping Detroit Mercy 84–56. The Wildcats, who UNC plays in Lexington, Ky., in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge on Dec. 2, made the largest drop, sinking seven spots to No. 19.
Duke (7–0) went up one spot to No. 4 after beating Kansas 78–66, Louisville (5–0) stayed at No. 6 and N.C. State (4–1) edged up two spots to No. 23, but lost to Seton Hall in the first round of the Maui Invitational on Monday, 85–74. Clemson and VIrginia Tech received votes.
Other teams ahead of Carolina in last week’s poll to lose were:
— UConn (5–1), which slipped two spots to No. 5 after losing 71–76 to Arizona, which moved up two spots to No. 2, with Houston (5–0) falling a spot to No. 3.
—Illinois (5–1), which fell five spots to No. 13 after a 90–86 loss to Alabama, which moved up three spots to No. 8.
—Texas Tech (4–2), which dropped five spots to No. 20 after edging Wake Forest 84–83 and losing 86–56 to No. 1 Purdue.
Kansas (3-2) was No. 24 but fell out of the poll, 27th in poll points, after losing to Duke.
Vanderbilt (5–0), with former Tar Heels Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, debuted in the poll at No. 24 while Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (4–0) stayed at No. 7 and Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (3–1) remained at No. 14.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 6 is David Jabloski of the Dayton Daily News in Ohio, and ranking the Heels the lowest at No. 25 was Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va.
Chris Lea of WRAL voted UNC No. 17 and Kate Rogerson of WTVD has the Tar Heels No. 18.
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (46) | 6–0 | 1,509 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona (11) | 5–0 | 1,439 | 4 |
| 3 | Houston (4) | 5–0 | 1,425 | 2 |
| 4 | Duke | 7–0 | 1,319 | 5 |
| 5 | UConn | 5–1 | 1,208 | 3 |
| 6 | Louisville | 5–0 | 1,201 | 6 |
| 7 | Michigan | 4–0 | 1,080 | 7 |
| 8 | Alabama | 3–1 | 1,070 | 11 |
| 9 | BYU | 4–1 | 1,033 | 9 |
| 10 | Florida | 4–1 | 961 | 10 |
| 11 | Michigan State | 5–0 | 879 | 17 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 5–0 | 863 | 13 |
| 13 | Illinois | 5–1 | 830 | 8 |
| 14 | St. John’s | 3–1 | 743 | 14 |
| 15 | Iowa State | 4–0 | 706 | 16 |
| 16 | North Carolina | 5–0 | 595 | 18 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 5–0 | 495 | 20 |
| 18 | UCLA | 5–1 | 488 | 19 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 4–2 | 394 | 12 |
| 20 | Texas Tech | 4–2 | 319 | 15 |
| 21 | Auburn | 4–1 | 269 | 22 |
| 22 | Arkansas | 5–1 | 260 | 21 |
| 23 | N.C. State | 5–1 | 214 | 25 |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 5–0 | 111 | NR |
| 25 | Indiana | 5–0 | 100 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 45, Kansas 34, Oregon 31, Georgetown 31, Saint Mary’s 27, Nebraska 27, Ohio St. 26, Missouri 20, Utah St. 16, Baylor 14, Southern Cal 10, Mississippi 10, Iowa 6, Clemson 6, Santa Clara 3, Creighton 3, Oklahoma St. 2, Virginia Tech 2, Buffalo 1.
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 10 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. 17 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. 9 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 SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 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 or 2:30 | at No. 21 Virginia | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 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. 16 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 courtesy of UNC Athletics
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