By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina dropped two spots to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after splitting its final two regular-season games last week.
The Tar Heels (24–7), after beating Clemson 67–63 on Tuesday and falling at No. 1 Duke (29–2) on Saturday, open play in the ACC tournament with a quarterfinal game at 9:30 Thursday as the No. 4 seed against either No.5-seed Clemson (22–9), No. 14 Virginia Tech (19–12) or No. 13 Wake Forest (16–15). The latter two play at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner facing the Tigers at 9:30 Wednesday for the right to face UNC.
Duke got 56 of 61 first-place votes. Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 10 Virginia (27–4; up three spots), and No. 24 Louisville (22–9), which was unranked last week. Miami (24–7) was No. 22 but fell out of the poll after beating SMU 77–69 but losing to Louisville 92–89.
The three teams directly ahead of Carolina in last week’s poll all lost to unranked teams:
—Kansas (22–9) stayed at No. 14 after losing 70–60 to Arizona State but beating Kansas State 104–85.
—Purdue (23–8) lost to Ohio State 82–74 and Wisconsin 97–93, and fell three spots to No. 18.
—Alabama (23–8) went up one spot to No. 15 after a 98–88 loss to Georgia.
Elliot Cadeau’s Michigan team (28–2), the top seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament, held at No. 3 after wins over Iowa and Michigan State.
Ian Jackson’s St. John’s team (25–6), the Big East tournament’s No. 1 seed moved up five spots to No. 13 following a win over Seton Hall.
Vanderbilt (24–7), with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, moved up two spots to No. 22 after victories over Ole Miss and Tennessee.
WXII’s John Johnson has Carolina No. 15, WTVD’s Kate Rogerson puts the Heels at No. 16 and WRAL’s Chris Lea voted UNC No. 18.
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AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (56) | 29–2 | 1,519 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona (4) | 29–2 | 1,439 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan (1) | 29–2 | 1,434 | 3 |
| 4 | Florida | 25v6 | 1,337 | 5 |
| 5 | Houston | 26–5 | 1,241 | 7 |
| 6 | UConn | 27–4 | 1,178 | 4 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 25–6 | 1,137 | 6 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 25v6 | 1,083 | 8 |
| 9 | Illinois | 24–7 | 1,037 | 11 |
| 10 | Virginia | 27–4 | 953 | 13 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 26–5 | 939 | 9 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 28–3 | 846 | 12 |
| 13 | St. John’s | 25–6 | 733 | 18 |
| 14 | Kansas | 22–9 | 608 | 14 |
| 15 | Alabama | 23–8 | 602 | 16 |
| 16 | Texas Tech | 22–9 | 554 | 10 |
| 17 | Arkansas | 23–8 | 532 | 20 |
| 18 | Purdue | 23–8 | 529 | 15 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 24–7 | 488 | 17 |
| 20 | Miami (Ohio) | 31–0 | 420 | 19 |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s | 27–4 | 325 | 21 |
| 22 | Vanderbilt | 24–7 | 323 | 24 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 22–9 | 201 | NR |
| 24 | Louisville | 22–9 | 140 | NR |
| 25 | Tennessee | 21–10 | 72 | 23 |
Others receiving votes: Miami 60, TCU 19, BYU 18, Saint Louis 12, High Point 11, Georgia 10, Villanova 10, UCLA 3, VCU 3, Stephen F Austin 2, Utah St. 2, Ohio St. 2, Missouri 2, Akron 1.
| 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
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 15 Pittsburgh 64, No. 10 Stanford 63
No. 11 SMU 86, No. 14 Syracuse 69
No. 13 Wake Forest 95, No. 12 Virginia Tech 89, OT
Wednesday’s second round
No. 7 N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
No. 6 (No. 24 ranked) Louisville 62, SMU 58
No. 8 Florida State 95, No. 9 California 89
No. 5 Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 2 (No. 10 ranked) Virginia 81, N.C. State 74
No. 3 Miami 78, Louisville 73
No. 1 (No. 1 ranked) Duke 80, Florida State 79
Clemson 80, No. 4 (No. 19 ranked) North Carolina 79
Friday’s semifinals
Virginia 84, Miami 62
Duke 73, Clemson 61
Saturday’s championship
Duke 74, Virginia 70
UNC schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | 5 p.m. Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | Tuesday | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday, 7 p.m. | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday afternoon | at Georgetown |
| 15 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| 30 | Wednesday | vs. California |
| January | ||
| 2 | Saturday | at Boston College |
| 5 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | at Louisville |
| 9 | Saturday | vs. N.C. State |
| 13 | Wednesday | at Florida State |
| 16 | Saturday | vs. Stanford |
| 19 | Tuesday | vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 23 | Saturday | at Syracuse |
| 26 | Tuesday | vs. SMU |
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
| February | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Notre Dame |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 8 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. Louisville |
| 13 | Saturday | at No. 4 Duke |
| 20 | Saturday | at Wake Forest |
| 22 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. No. 24 Miami |
| 27 | Saturday | at Virginia Tech |
| March | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. No. 4 Duke |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
