By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina moved up to a season-high No. 12 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after winning its only game last week.

The Tar Heels (9–1), which beat USC Upstate 80–62 on Saturday, topped their previous high of No. 14 in last week’s poll. It’s UNC’s highest ranking since it was No. 12 last season on Nov. 25.

The two teams directly ahead of UNC last week both lost:
— Illinois (8–3) dropped from No. 13 to No. 18 after an 83–80 at home loss to Nebraska (11–0), which moved up eight spots to No. 15 after also beating Wisconsin 90–60,
— Alabama (7–3) dropped four spots to No. 16 after losing Saturday in Birmingham, Ala., to No. 1 Arizona 96–75.

Duke (10–0) remained at No. 3 after not playing last week. Louisville (9–1) stayed at No. 11 after a 99–73 victory over Memphis. Virginia (9–1) is up to No. 23 after an 84–60 win over Maryland Eastern Shore.

Elliot Cadeau’s unbeaten Michigan team (10–0) stayed at No. 2. Vanderbilt (10–0), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, went up two spots to No. 13, and Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (6–3) stayed at No. 22.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 10 was John Johnson of WXII-TV in Winston-Salem. Like every week this season, Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., ranked the Tar Heels the lowest, this time at No. 24.

Chris Lea of WRAL voted UNC No. 11 and Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted the Heels No. 12.

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More on Tar Heels

— Check out an extensive photo gallery from the USC Upstate game.
— ETSU at No. 12 UNC: When, where to watch, stats, comparisons and notes
— Agitated Davis lets his team have it during late timeout in ugly win
— Caleb Wilson played through a foot injury in putting up seventh double-double.
— No brace for Trimble’s forearm as he’s been active in non-contact drills, nears return
— Powell brings quick-release perimeter shots, defense UNC needed
— Tar Heels slide in NET rankings after unimpressive Quad 4 win

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AP Top 25

Rank	School	Record (1st- place votes)	Poll points	Previous
1	Arizona (42)	9-0	1,500	1
2	Michigan (15)	10-0	1,470	2
3	Duke (3)	10–0	1,406	3
4	Iowa State (1)	11–0	1,336	4
5	UConn	10–1	1,286	5
6	Purdue	10–1	1,195	6
7	Gonzaga	10–1	1,109	8
8	Houston	10–1	1,079	7
9	Michigan State	9–1	1,037	9
10	BYU	9–1	1,017	10
11	Louisville	9–1	921	11
12	North Carolina	9–1	794	14
13	Vanderbilt	10–0	766	15
14	Arkansas	8–2	726	17
15	Nebraska	11–0	655	23
16	Alabama	7–3	644	12
17	Kansas	8–3	502	19
18	Illinois	8–3	483	13
19	Texas Tech	7–3	314	16
20	Tennessee	7–3	286	20
21	Auburn	8–3	283	21
22	St. John’s	6–3	250	22
T23	Florida	6–4	200	18
T23	Virginia	9–1	200	24
25	Georgia	9–1	82	NR

Others receiving votes: Southern Cal 68, Iowa 47, Seton Hall 46, LSU 19, Kentucky 19, UCLA 16, Clemson 14, California 13, Saint Mary’s 12, Arizona St 5, Villanova 5, Notre Dame 4, Indiana 4, Miami (Ohio) 4, Miami 4, Utah St. 2, Saint Louis 1, Wisconsin 1.

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Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 13 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. 14 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. 7 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. 17 Virginia	16–4, 4–3
31	Saturday	W, 91–75	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 5–3
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
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. 20 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 4 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte

Photo by Joshua Lawton