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.
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AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (55) | 27–2 | 1,471 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona (4) | 27–2 | 1,392 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan | 27–2 | 1,385 | 3 |
| 4 | UConn | 27–3 | 1,275 | 6 |
| 5 | Florida | 23–6 | 1,234 | 7 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 24–5 | 1,118 | 4 |
| 7 | Houston | 24–5 | 1,094 | 5 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 24–5 | 1,055 | 13 |
| 9 | Nebraska | 25–4 | 1,002 | 12 |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 22–7 | 855 | 16 |
| 11 | Illinois | 22–7 | 838 | 10 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 28–3 | 752 | 9 |
| 13 | Virginia | 25–4 | 731 | 11 |
| 14 | Kansas | 21–8 | 722 | 14 |
| 15 | Purdue | 22–7 | 712 | 8 |
| 16 | Alabama | 22–7 | 657 | 17 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 23–6 | 554 | 18 |
| 18 | St. John’s | 23–6 | 547 | 15 |
| 19 | Miami (OH) | 29–0 | 360 | 21 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 21–8 | 333 | 20 |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s | 27–4 | 304 | NR |
| 22 | Miami (FL) | 23–6 | 153 | NR |
| 23 | Tennessee | 20–9 | 118 | 22 |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 22–7 | 117 | 25 |
| 25 | Saint Louis | 26–3 | 103 | 23 |
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.

| 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
