For the ninth time in school history and first time since 2011, North Carolina will enter the college basketball season ranked No. 1. This is the fourth time his teams have opened the season No. 1 in the AP poll. At the end of the day there are a few absolutely huge matchups coming in November that will shake out the rankings, starting with FSU at Clemson and LSU at Alabama this weekend. “But it’s certainly nice to be one of those teams under consideration”. The general consensus is that UNC’s opening week loss to SCAR has crushed the Heels in the eyes of the national voters. Duke is second with 127 and Kentucky is third with 113, one more than the Tar Heels.
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Kentucky was ranked No. 1 the entire season in the AP Top 25 in 2014-15. A nationally televised road game against a ranked team on a short work week was a good spot to show how much things have changed.
The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 have four teams each in the poll and both have three schools in the Top Ten.
This year’s Tar Heels return four double-digit scorers, including preseason ACC co-player of the year Marcus Paige and returning all-ACC forward Brice Johnson. That might be true but is also misses the point.
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Fans won’t have to wait long to see ranked teams face each other this season. The Tar Heels got another solid effort out of a defense that has gone from being the worst in the ACC past year to one of the best this season under new coordinator and former Auburn coach Gene Chizik. No one expected UNC to contend for the playoff and even at 8-0 would likely be outside the top 10 like Oklahoma State is. The Tar Heels had five sacks against Pitt and got strong games out of cornerbacks M.J. Stewart and Des Lawerence. Besides, UNC’s immediate goals are winning the Coastal Division and getting a shot at CFP #1 Clemson in the ACC Championship.
