Nearly three months into college basketball season, we’re starting to see contenders separate themselves from pretenders. Next month, the NCAA Tournament will arrive.
UNC, which entered Monday night’s game vs. Syracuse with three consecutive wins, is playing another solid stretch of basketball. North Carolina (17-4, 5-3 ACC) marched into Charlottesville and escaped with a massive upset of rival Virginia, the meat of a sandwich which also included blowout wins over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.
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The Tar Heels earned a minor reward for Saturday’s victory in Atlanta, climbing two spots – to 14th – in the February 2 AP Poll.
UNC finds itself one spot behind Texas Tech, which dropped two slots and a spot ahead of Vanderbilt, which rose three slots.
North Carolina still has plenty of work to reach “contender” status, but college basketball fans see a team with all the tools of making noise in March. The Tar Heels have a near-unstoppable post duo of Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson, plus their defense is playing significantly better.
UNC beating the Orange (13-9, 4-5 ACC) Monday night should improve next week’s standing, but the big test comes Saturday against Duke. The Blue Devils (20-1, 9-0 ACC), led by National Player of the Year candidate Cameron Boozer, did a phenomenal job of reloading from last year’s uber-talented squad.
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North Carolina’s backcourt, a question mark throughout the season, finally seems to be solidifying with Derek Dixon‘s emergence. Hubert Davis has a rotation in place for maximum production, which is a key quality of National Championship teams.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball ranked 14th in February 2 AP Poll
