By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina held onto the No. 16 spot in the AP Top 25 men’s poll on Monday after splitting two games at the Fort Myers Tip-Off last week.
The Tar Heels (6–1) beat St. Bonaventure 85–70 but lost 74–58 to Michigan State (7–0), which moved up four spots to No. 7. Carolina is 26th in the first NET rankings of the season, which were released on Monday morning.
UNC faces another ranked team at 9:35 Tuesday (ESPN) when it visits Kentucky (5–2), which moved up one spots to No. 18 after rolling to a 104–54 victory over Tennessee Tech.
Two other ACC teams are in the poll: Duke (8–0), which stayed at No 4 after beating Arkansas 80–71 in Chicago, and Louisville (7–0), which stayed at No. 6 after beating Eastern Michigan 87–46 and NJIT 104–47.
N.C. State (5–2), No. 23 in last week’s poll, is unranked after losing two of three games at the Maui Invitational, beating Boise State 81–70 but losing 85–74 to Seton Hall and 102–97 to Texas.
Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (7–0) and Vanderbilt (8–0), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, both stayed undefeated after going 3–0 to win tournament titles. The Wolverines jumped four spots to No. 3 after winning the Players Era Championship and the Commodores surged seven spots, the biggest jump this week, to No. 17 after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (4–3) dropped nine spots to No. 23, the largest drop this week, after dropping two of three games at the Players Era Championship.
Kansas returned to the Top 25 at No. 21.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 11 were John Johnson of WXII-TV in Winston-Salem and Scott Richey of The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. Voting the Tar Heels the lowest at No. 25 is Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va. He’s ranked UNC the lowest every week.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted UNC No. 15 and Chris Lea of WRAL had the Tar Heels No. 16 on his ballot.
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (40) | 7–0 | 1,494 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona (6) | 7–0 | 1,442 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan (15) | 7–0 | 1,417 | 7 |
| 4 | Duke | 8–0 | 1,355 | 4 |
| 5 | UConn | 6–1 | 1,244 | 5 |
| 6 | Louisville | 7–0 | 1,177 | 6 |
| 7 | Michigan State | 7–0 | 1,095 | 11 |
| 8 | Houston | 7–1 | 1,070 | 3 |
| 9 | BYU | 6–1 | 1,037 | 9 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 7–0 | 975 | 15 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 7–1 | 934 | 12 |
| 12 | Alabama | 5–2 | 869 | 8 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 7–1 | 771 | 17 |
| 14 | Illinois | 6–2 | 657 | 13 |
| 15 | Florida | 5–2 | 568 | 10 |
| 16 | North Carolina | 6–1 | 519 | 16 |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 8–0 | 475 | 24 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 5–2 | 451 | 19 |
| 19 | Texas Tech | 6–2 | 387 | 20 |
| 20 | Auburn | 6–2 | 376 | 21 |
| 21 | Kansas | 6–2 | 340 | NR |
| 22 | Indiana | 7–0 | 313 | 25 |
| 23 | St. John’s | 4–3 | 200 | 14 |
| 24 | Southern Cal. | 7–0 | 145 | NR |
| 25 | Arkansas | 5–2 | 127 | 22 |
Others receiving votes: Iowa 100, UCLA 59, Nebraska 53, TCU 36, Missouri 28, Utah St. 16, Saint Mary’s 15, Baylor 13, Oklahoma St. 12, SMU 12, Clemson 11, LSU 7, Seton Hall 6, Wisconsin 6, N.C. State 5, Wake Forest 3, California 2, Colorado 1, George Mason 1, Buffalo 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 0–0 | 11–0 | 2 |
| California | 0–0 | 10–1 | 63 |
| No. 12 North Carolina | 0–0 | 10–1 | 15 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 0–0 | 9–1 | 21 |
| Miami | 0–0 | 10–2 | 33 |
| Virginia Tech | 0–0 | 10–2 | 58 |
| No. 11 Louisville | 0–0 | 9–2 | 17 |
| SMU | 0–0 | 9–2 | 43 |
| Stanford | 0–0 | 8–2 | 98 |
| Clemson | 0–0 | 9–3 | 32 |
| Notre Dame | 0–0 | 9–3 | 65 |
| Wake Forest | 0–0 | 9–3 | 59 |
| N.C. State | 0–0 | 8–4 | 34 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–0 | 7–4 | 189 |
| Syracuse | 0–0 | 7–4 | 96 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–0 | 6–6 | 154 |
| Boston College | 0–0 | 5–6 | 177 |
| Florida State | 0–0 | 5–6 | 148 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Tuesday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 77, East Tennessee State 58
No. 3 Duke 97, Lipscomb 73
No. 20 Tennessee 83, No. 11 Louisville 62
Dayton 97, Florida State 69
Clemson 68, South Carolina 61
Miami 98, Florida International 81
Georgia Tech 87, Marist 76
Wednesday’s results
N.C. State 108, Texas Southern 72
Pittsburgh 103, Binghamton 6
Syracuse 76, Mercyhurst 62
Wake Forest 71, Longwood 68
UT Arlington at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Friday’s games
Mississippi Valley State at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Morgan State at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Saturday’s games
Montana at No. 11 Louisville, noon, ACCN Extra
Lafayette at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Elon at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Ohio State vs. No. 12 North Carolina at CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBS
Northeastern at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ACCN Extra
Maryland at No. 23 Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Duke at No. 16 Texas Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN
Stanford at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| 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. East Tennessee State | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | vs. Ohio State | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Carolina | ACCN |
| 30 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Florida State | ESPN2 |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | 2:15 | at SMU | The CW |
| 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. 23 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. 3 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. 11 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. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of Intersport
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