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. 4 Duke | 10–1 | 21–2 | 3 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 10–1 | 20–4 | 31 |
| No. 18 Virginia | 9–2 | 20–3 | 16 |
| N.C. State | 9–2 | 18–6 | 25 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 7–3 | 19–4 | 27 |
| Miami | 7–3 | 18–5 | 37 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 7–4 | 17–6 | 17 |
| SMU | 5–5 | 16–7 | 34 |
| California | 5–6 | 17–7 | 55 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–6 | 16–8 | 57 |
| Florida State | 4–6 | 11–12 | 101 |
| Stanford | 4–7 | 15–9 | 79 |
| Syracuse | 4–7 | 13–11 | 69 |
| Wake Forest | 2–8 | 11–12 | 70 |
| Boston College | 2–8 | 9–14 | 150 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–9 | 11–13 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–9 | 11–13 | 87 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–9 | 9–15 | 114 |
* — Through Friday games
Saturday’s results
N.C. State 82, Virginia Tech 71
No. 18 Virginia 72, Syracuse 59
No. 24 Louisville 88, Wake Forest 80
Miami 74, Boston College 68
SMU 86, Pittsburgh 67
Florida State 82, Notre Dame 79
No. 14 North Carolina 71, No. 4 Duke 68
No. 20 Clemson 77, California 55
Stanford 95, Georgia Tech 72
Monday’s game
N.C. State at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
No. 14 North Carolina at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Virginia at Florida State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Notre Dame at SMU, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 4 Duke at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday’s games
Virginia Tech at No. 20 Clemson, ACC Network
California at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at Boston College, 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday, Feb. 14, games
No. 20 Clemson at No. 4 Duke, noon, ESPN
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, noon, The CW
California at Boston College, noon, ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 14 North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN
Florida State at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Syracuse, 2 p.m., The CW
No. 24 Louisville vs. Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Stanford at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at N.C. State, 4 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 18 Virginia vs. Ohio State in Nashville, 8 p.m., Fox
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 16 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. 11 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. 10 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 | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 18 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 4 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 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. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of Intersport
tarheeltribune.com 