By R.L. Bynum
Carolina jumped two spots to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 men’s poll after rolling to a 91–75 victory at Georgia Tech on Saturday in its only game last week.
The Tar Heels (17–4, 5–3 ACC), who host Syracuse at 7 p.m. Monday, have risen eight spots in the poll in the last two weeks. The 633 poll points are the most since UNC was No. 14 with 659 on Jan. 12. Carolina’s best ranking was No. 12 on Dec. 15 and Dec. 22.
Five weeks ranked No. 15 or higher are the most for Carolina since the 2023–24 season, when it happened 18 times.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 4 Duke (20–1, 9–0; rank unchanged), No. 18 Virginia (18–3, 7–2; down one spot after wins over Notre Dame and Boston College), No. 20 Clemson (18–4, 8–1; up two spots after beating Pittsburgh) and No. 24 Louisville (15–6, 5–4; down four spots after losing to Duke but beating SMU).
Carolina benefited from losses by two teams just ahead of it in last week’s poll. Four teams five spots or fewer ahead of it in last week’s poll lost:
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— Texas Tech (16–5) dropped two spots to No. 13 after losing at unranked UCF 88–80.
— Purdue (18–4) stayed at No. 12 after losing to unranked Indiana 72–67.
— BYU (17–4) slipped three spots to No. 16 after losing 86–83 to No. 1 Arizona and 90–82 to Kansas
— Arkansas (16–6) fell six spots to No. 21 after beating Oklahoma 83–79 but losing to unranked Kentucky 85–77.
Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (18–1) move up one spot to No. 2, flip-flopping with UConn (21–1).
Vanderbilt (19–3), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, moved up three spots to No. 15 after beating Kentucky 80–55 and Ole Miss 71–68.
Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (16–5) moved up three spots to No. 22 after a 92–70 home win over Butler.
John Johnson of WXII and Chris Lea of WRAL each voted UNC No. 11, and WTVD’s Kate Rogerson had the Tar Heels No. 14.
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 83, Alabama 48, Iowa 39, UCF 39, Kentucky 28, Villanova 15, N.C. State 9, Auburn 8, Utah St. 6, Miami 4, Georgia 3, Santa Clara 1, George Mason 1, Wisconsin 1.
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. 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. 11 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. 9 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. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
