Heels move up in AP Top 25 men’s poll

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina moved up one spots in the AP Top 25 men’s poll to No. 17 after two wins last week.

The Tar Heels (23–6, 11–5 ACC) beat Louisville 77–74 on Monday and Virginia Tech 89–82 Saturday, both at home, to push their record to 4–1 playing without star Caleb Wilson.

Carolina tries to keep that momentum going at 7 p.m. Tuesday with a senior night game against Clemson (21–8, 11–5).

Duke remained No. 1 after rolling to wins over Notre Dame (100–56) and Virginia (77–51), and Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (27–2) remained at No. 3 after wins over Minnesota (77–67) and Illinois (84–70).

The Cavaliers, who earlier blew out N.C. State last week 90–61, fell two spots to No. 13.

The only other ACC team in the poll is Miami (23–6, 12–4), which debuted at No. 22. Louisville (20–9, 9–7), previously No. 24, fell out following its loss to the Tar Heels and an 80–75 setback against Clemson.

Vanderbilt (22–7), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, moved up one spot to No. 23 despite Saturday’s 91–77 loss to Kentucky.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 11 were Dave Borges of the New Haven Register and Randy Heitz of KRXO in Norman, Okla. Tovlov Brown of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., was the only voter who didn’t rank the Tar Heels.

John Johnson of WXII voted UNC No. 12, while WRAL’s Chris Lea and WTVD’s Kate Rogerson each voted the Tar Heels No. 14.


Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.


AP Top 25

RankSchool (1st-place votes)RecordPoll
points
Previous
1Duke (55)27–21,4711
2Arizona (4)27–21,3922
3Michigan27–21,3853
4UConn27–31,2756
5Florida23–61,2347
6Iowa State24–51,1184
7Houston24–51,0945
8Michigan State24–51,05513
9Nebraska25–41,00212
10Texas Tech22–785516
11Illinois22–783810
12Gonzaga28–37529
13Virginia25–473111
14Kansas21–872214
15Purdue22–77128
16Alabama22–765717
17North Carolina23–655418
18St. John’s23–654715
19Miami (OH)29–036021
20Arkansas21–833320
21Saint Mary’s27–4304NR
22Miami (FL)23–6153NR
23Tennessee20–911822
24Vanderbilt22–711725
25Saint Louis26–310323
Others receiving votes: BYU 74, Kentucky 47, Louisville 47, Missouri 40, Wisconsin 27, Clemson 16, Utah St. 10, UCF 7, High Point 7, Dayton 5, Villanova 4, Navy 3, N.C. State 2, TCU 2, Ohio St. 1, Santa Clara 1.

DateMonth/dayScoresOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 17 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 11 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20SaturdayW, 71–70vs. Ohio State11–1
—————————
22MondayW, 99–51vs. East Carolina12–1
30TuesdayW, 79–66vs. Florida State13–1,
1–0 ACC
January
3SaturdayL, 97–83at SMU13–2, 1–1
10SaturdayW, 87–84vs. Wake Forest14–2, 2–1
14WednesdayL, 95–90at Stanford14–3, 2–2
17SaturdayL, 84–78at California14–4, 2–3
21WednesdayW, 91–69vs. Notre Dame15–4, 3–3
24SaturdayW, 85–80at No. 9 Virginia16–4, 4–3
31SaturdayW, 91–75at Georgia Tech17–4, 5–3
February
2MondayW, 87–77vs. Syracuse18–4, 6–3
7SaturdayW, 71–68vs. No. 1 Duke19–4, 7–3
10TuesdayL, 75–66at No. 25 Miami19–5, 7–4
14SaturdayW, 79–65vs. Pittsburgh20–5, 8–4
17TuesdayL, 82–58at N.C. State20–6, 8–5
21SaturdayW, 77–64at Syracuse21–6, 9–5
23MondayW, 77–74vs. Louisville22–6, 10–5
28SaturdayW, 89–82vs. Virginia Tech23–6, 11–5
March
3TuesdayW, 67–63vs. Clemson24–6, 12–5
7SaturdayL, 76–61at No. 1 Duke24–7, 12–6
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament
Spectrum Center,
Charlotte
12ThursdayL, 80–79Quarterfinals:
vs. Clemson
24–8
NCAA
tournament
19ThursdayL, 82–78, OTFirst round: vs. VCU
in Greenville, S.C.
24–9

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics

Leave a Reply