After some struggles in previous weeks, the last one was a pretty solid one for UNC basketball. After a couple brutal defensive performances in a row, the Tar Heel men came back with a much better week, including a road victory over an also ranked Virginia squad. Meanwhile, the women are up to four wins in a row after getting by Syracuse in overtime over the weekend.
With both Carolina teams playing well of late, let’s check in on what impact that’s had on them, and the rest of the country, in this week’s AP Top 25 rankings.
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Men’s Basketball
AP Top 25
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Arizona (60 first place votes)
Where is UNC?
After the losses on the west coast, the Tar Heels were headed in the wrong direction in the Top 25, but still managed to hang on to a ranking. Now, after responding in pretty excellent fashion, Carolina is headed back in the right direction. After the comeback win over UVA, UNC moved up six spots to #16 this week.
Biggest Winners
In terms of number of spots jumped, our own Tar Heels are actually this week’s winner. However, arguably the more impressive thing that happened this week is that Arizona consolidated their place atop the rankings and are now the unanimous #1.
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Biggest Losers
Purdue had been in the top five last week, but ended up dropping all the way out of the top ten in the latest poll. Thanks to losses to UCLA and Illinois, the Boilermakers dropped eight spots down to #12 this week, the most of any team.
Conference Breakdown
Marquee Matchups This Week
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#5 Nebraska (20-0, 9-0 Big Ten) at #3 Michigan (18-1, 8-1 Big Ten) – Tonight at 7:00 PM ET on Peacock
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#3 Michigan (18-1, 8-1 Big Ten) at #7 Michigan State (18-2, 8-1 Big Ten) – Friday at 8:00 PM ET on FOX
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#13 BYU (17-2, 5-1 Big 12) at #14 Kansas (15-5, 5-2 Big 12) – Saturday at 4:30 PM ET on ESPN
Women’s Basketball
AP Top 25
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UConn (31 first place votes)
Where is UNC?
Since dropping out of the Top 25, the Tar Heels have come back and responded with a couple wins. As of yet, though, that hasn’t been enough to get ranked again. This week, Carolina finished just a couple votes out of the Top 25, as they are the unofficial #26, being the first team in the “others receiving votes” category.
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Biggest Winners
There weren’t too many big jumps up on the women’s side this week, with the notable exception of Oklahoma. The Sooners picked up a very impressive victory over South Carolina, and as a result they jumped six places to #10 this week.
Biggest Losers
Meanwhile, it was a different SEC team that had the biggest drop of the week. The Wildcats are on a three-game losing streak, including ones to Mississippi State and Georgia, who were both unranked at the time. That led to UK falling seven places to #18 in the latest Top 25.
Conference Breakdown
Marquee Matchups This Week
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#15 Tennessee (14-3) at #1 UConn (21-0) – Sunday at 12:00 PM ET on FOX
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#10 Oklahoma (16-4, 4-3 SEC) at #4 Texas (19-2, 4-2 SEC) – Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on ABC
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#8 Iowa (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten) at #2 UCLA (19-1, 9-0 Big Ten) – Sunday at 4:00 PM ET on FOX
