By R.L. Bynum

Carolina moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 men’s poll released Monday, earning a season-high ranking of No. 14.

The Tar Heels (8–1) earned a pair of power-conference victories, winning 67–64 at Kentucky on Tuesday and knocking off Georgetown 81–61 at home on Sunday.

It’s UNC’s highest ranking since it was No. 12 on Nov. 25, 2024, and the 724 poll points are the most since garnering 976 that week.

Duke (10–0) moved up one spot to No. 3 after beating Florida 67–66 and Michigan State 66–60. Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (8–0) went up one spot to No. 2, Vanderbilt (with Jalen Washington and Tyler Nickel) is up two spots to No. 15 and Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (5–3) moved up one spot to No. 22.

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Five teams ahead of the Tar Heels in last week’s poll lost:
— Purdue (8–1) sank five spots from No. 1 to No. 6 after an 81–58 loss to Iowa State.
— Louisville (8–1) slipped five spots to No. 11 after losing 89–80 to Arkansas but beating Indiana 87–78.
— Michigan State (8–1) fell two spots to No. 9 after falling to Duke.
— Tennessee (7–3) sunk seven spots to No. 20 after a 62–60 loss to Syracuse.
— Florida (5–3) dropped three spots to No. 18 after its loss to Duke.

Virginia (8–1) debuted in the poll at No. 24 after two big wins last week, winning 88–69 at Texas and beating Dayton 86–73 in Charlotte.

Kentucky (5–4) fell out of the poll after also losing 94–59 to Gonzaga (9–1), which moved up three spots to No. 8.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 10 is John Johnson of WXII-TV in Winston-Salem. Ranking the Heels the lowest, as he has every week of the season, is Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va. This week, he has them No. 22.

Chris Lea of WRAL voted UNC No. 12 and Kate Rogerson of WTVD has the Heels No. 14.

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AP Top 25

Rank	School (1st-place votes)	Record	Poll points	Previous
1	Arizona (33)	8–0	1,461	2
2	Michigan (19)	8–0	1,440	3
3	Duke (7)	10–0	1,400	4
4	Iowa State (1)	9–0	1,304	10
5	UConn	8–1	1,263	5
6	Purdue	8–1	1,173	1
7	Houston	8–1	1,064	8
8	Gonzaga	9–1	1,054	11
9	Michigan State	8–1	1,017	7
10	BYU	7–1	1,007	9
11	Louisville	8–1	877	6
12	Alabama	7–2	854	12
13	Illinois	7–2	771	14
14	North Carolina	8–1	724	16
15	Vanderbilt	9–0	686	17
16	Texas Tech	7–2	508	19
17	Arkansas	7–2	488	25
18	Florida	5–3	422	15
19	Kansas	7–3	380	21
20	Tennessee	7–3	286	13
21	Auburn	7–3	264	20
22	St. John’s	5–3	254	23
23	Nebraska	9–0	180	NR
24	Virginia	8–1	130	NR
25	UCLA	7–2	79	NR

Others receiving votes: Iowa 60, Oklahoma St. 54, Southern Cal 50, Georgia 49, Saint Mary’s 38, Seton Hall 31, Kentucky 29, Wisconsin 24, Indiana 18, Clemson 14, LSU 14, Villanova 9, California 6, Notre Dame 4, Miami 4, SMU 3, TCU 2, Arizona St 2, Miami (Ohio) 2, St. Bonaventure 1.

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Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 4 Duke	10–0	21–1	1
No. 20 Clemson	8–1	18–4	31
No. 18 Virginia	7–2	18–3	18
N.C. State	7–2	16–6	26
No. 14 North Carolina	6–3	18–4	25
Miami	6–3	17–5	38
No. 24 Louisville	5–4	15–6	17
Virginia Tech	5–5	16–7	56
SMU	4–4	15–6	34
California	4–5	16–6	51
Syracuse	4–6	13–10	72
Stanford	3–6	14–8	77
Florida State	3–6	10–12	101
Georgia Tech	2–7	11–11	142
Notre Dame	2–7	11–11	85
Wake Forest	2–7	11–11	73
Boston College	2–7	9–13	153
Pittsburgh	2–7	9–13	111

* — Through Monday games
Monday’s result
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s games
No. 4 Duke 67, Boston College 49
Pittsburgh at No. 18 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at SMU, 9 p.m, ESPN2
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Monday’s game
N.C. State at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 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

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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	6:30	vs. No. 4 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. 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 UNC Athletics