UNC jumps to season-high ranking in AP Top 25 men’s poll

By R.L. Bynum

Carolina moved up to a season-high No. 11 in the AP Top 25 men’s poll after the Tar Heels’ big 71–68 home victory Saturday over Duke.

The best previous rank this season for UNC (19–4, 7–3 ACC), which also beat Syracuse at home last Monday 87–77, was No. 12 on Dec. 15 and Dec. 22.

It’s the Tar Heels’ best ranking since they were No. 10 on Nov. 18, 2024. The 863 poll points are the most since garnering 976 on Nov. 25, 2024, when UNC was No. 12.

Duke (21–2), now tied for the ACC lead with Clemson at 10–1, stayed at No. 4. The Tigers (20–4) remained at No. 20 after winning at Stanford 66–64 and at California 77–55.

Virginia moved up three spots to No. 15 after beating Pittsburgh 67–47 and Syracuse 72–59, and Louisville stayed at No. 24 after a 76–65 win over Notre Dame and an 88–80 victory over Wake Forest).

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More on Tar Heels

— UNC jumps up in NET rankings after big win, has loss upgraded to Quad 1
— Wilson’s first-half surge steadied Heels, set up ‘crazy’ night
— A half-second to glory, legendary moment for Trimble
— Trimble shoots down Duke in instant classic

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Duke was one of six teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll to lose:
— UConn (22–2) dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 after an 81–72 loss to Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (18–5), which moved up five spots to No. 17.
— Illinois (20–5) fell from No. 5 to No. 8 after an 85–82 overtime loss to Michigan State.
— Gonzaga (23–2) dropped from No. 6 to No. 12 after an 87–80 loss to unranked Portland.
— Michigan State (20–4) remained No. 10 after losing to Cade Tyson’s unranked Minnesota team 76–73, but topping Illinois 85–82 in overtime.
— Texas Tech (17–6) dropped three spots to No. 16 after losing to Kansas 64–61.

Elliott Cadeau’s Michigan team (22–1) held at No. 2 after beating Penn State 110–69 and Ohio State 82–61.

Vanderbilt (19–4), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, slipped four spots to No. 19 after a 92–91 home loss to unranked Oklahoma.

John Johnson of WXII voted UNC No. 7, Kate Rogerson of WTVD had Carolina No. 12 and Chris Lea of WRAL had the Tar Heels No. 13.

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Rank	School	Record (1st- place votes)	Poll points	Previous
1	Arizona	23–0 (59)	1,475	1
2	Michigan	22–1	1,416	2
3	Houston	21–2	1,275	8
4	Duke	21–2	1,254	4
5	Iowa State	21–2	1,247	7
6	UConn	22–2	1,227	3
7	Nebraska	20–2	1,091	9
8	Illinois	20–4	1,060	5
9	Kansas	18–5	966	11
10	Michigan State	20–4	929	10
11	North Carolina	19–4	863	14
12	Gonzaga	23–2	803	6
13	Purdue	19–4	785	12
14	Florida	17–6	718	17
15	Virginia	20–3	642	18
16	Texas Tech	17–6	549	13
17	St. John’s	18–5	524	22
18	Saint Louis	23–1	422	19
19	Vanderbilt	19–4	375	15
20	Clemson	20–4	354	20
21	Arkansas	17–6	304	15
22	BYU	17–6	198	16
23	Miami (OH)	24–0	195	23
24	Louisville	17–6	182	20
25	Kentucky	17–7	80	NR

Others receiving votes: Alabama 72, Iowa 69, N.C. State 31, Tennessee 26, Villanova 17, Utah St. 15, Georgia 6, Santa Clara 2, Auburn 2 and Saint Mary’s 1.

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Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 4 Duke	10–1	21–2	3
No. 20 Clemson	10–1	20–4	30
No. 15 Virginia	9–2	20–3	16
N.C. State	9–2	18–6	27
No. 11 North Carolina	7–3	19–4	24
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	60
Virginia Tech	5–6	16–8	55
Florida State	4–6	11–12	95
Stanford	4–7	15–9	70
Syracuse	4–7	13–11	68
Wake Forest	2–8	11–12	67
Boston College	2–8	9–14	148
Georgia Tech	2–9	11–13	151
Notre Dame	2–9	11–13	89
Pittsburgh	2–9	9–15	122

* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
N.C. State 82, Virginia Tech 71
No. 15 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. 11 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. 11 North Carolina at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 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. 11 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. 15 Virginia vs. Ohio State in Nashville, 8 p.m., Fox

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Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 22 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. 9 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 No. 25 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
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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. 15 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 UNC Athletics