North Carolina has teetered among the bottom of the top 10 in the AP Poll since the preseason poll was released. The team has gone from No. 9 in Week 1 to No. 10 after their loss to No. 1-ranked Kansas. In Week 3, they stayed at No. 10 and have now slid to No. 12 in the Week 4 AP Top 25 rankings.
Despite the win against Hawai’i in the team’s only game this week, they still fell. Marquette shot up five spots after taking down the former No. 6 ranked Purdue by almost 20 points.
Duke was also able to get the better of No. 17 Arizona, which put them back up one spot after previously being the No. 12 team.
Purdue subsequently fell out of the top 10, but Tennessee also rose into the ranks because of a win over former No. 13-ranked Baylor.
All of that aside, it is easy to see how North Carolina didn’t do much to solidify their place; however, it is rough to fall two spots and out of the top 10 to no fault of your own.
🚨 NEW AP POLL!
1. Kansas
2. UConn
3. Gonzaga
4. Auburn
5. Iowa State
6. Houston
7. Tennessee
8. Kentucky
9. Alabama
10. Marquette— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 25, 2024
They will have all the opportunity to rise up the rankings as there is a possibility of two top-five ranked games that they could play in this Maui Invitational tournament starting today. Maybe this fall in the rankings is just the motivation the team needed to rise to the occasion.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.