UNC makes decent jump in latest men’s basketball Coaches’ Poll

The Tar Heels have season-opening basketball wins against Radford, Lehigh and UC-Riverside. Those have boosted them up the Coaches’ Poll.

Three games, three easy wins for the UNC men’s basketball program to start its 2023-2024 campaign.

This is exactly the type of hot start you want to see from Carolina, especially given last season’s disappointment. The Tar Heels have wins against UC-Riverside, Lehigh (remember its upset of Duke) and a gritty Radford squad expected to contend in the Big South.

While it’s tough to determine exactly how good a team is by rankings alone, it’s always fun to compare where a fan’s favorite team sits. Some argue certain squads are too high, too low, should or shouldn’t be in the polls.

With their impressive performances in Games 1-3, UNC has seen itself rise to 14th in the latest Coaches’ Poll.

Carolina finds itself sandwiched between Texas A&M (13th) and Alabama (15th), two of the SEC’s better squads. The Tar Heels are also two spots ahead of Kentucky, one of college basketball’s blue bloods.

UNC has a chance to rise even further up the rankings over the latter half of this week, as it prepares for the Battle 4 Atlantis. Carolina is scheduled for a 12 p.m. ET tip – on ESPN – against Northern Iowa on Wednesday, a 12 or 2:30 p.m. ET tip vs. Villanova or Texas Tech on Thanksgiving Day, followed by a time TBA against either Arkansas, Memphis, Michigan or Stanford on Friday, Nov. 24.

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