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

— No. 11 UNC at Miami: TV info, stats, scouting Hurricanes, keys to game, comparisons and notes
— 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*	WAB*
No. 1 Duke	17–1	29–2	1	2
No. 10 Virginia	15–3	27–4	13	11
Miami	13–5	24–7	32	28
No. 19 North Carolina	12–6	24–7	23	19
Clemson	12–6	22–9	36	33
No. 24 Louisville	11–7	22–9	14	25
N.C. State	10–8	19–12	35	45
Florida State	10–8	17–14	69	74
California	9–9	21–10	65	49
Stanford	9–9	20–11	59	51
SMU	8–10	19–12	39	50
Virginia Tech	8–10	19–12	53	52
Wake Forest	7–11	16–15	64	81
Syracuse	6–12	15–16	83	92
Pittsburgh	5–13	12–19	109	146
Notre Dame	4–14	13–18	93	121
Boston College	4–14	11–20	159	217
Georgia Tech	2–16	11–20	167	210

* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday

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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