Photo credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
UNC Basketball Returns to Top 10 Following One-Week Absence
For the fourth straight week, UNC basketball is the highest-ranked ACC team in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Tar Heels (8-3, 1-0 ACC), fresh off last week's 81-69 win over then-No. 7 Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, jumped two spots to No. 9 in the latest release on Christmas Day.
That ties their season-high ranking. The Tar Heels, who began their campaign at No. 19 in the AP Poll, ranked No. 9 in each of this month's first two editions before falling to No. 11 last Monday following a loss to now-No. 8 Kentucky at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
There are only two other ranked ACC squads this week: No. 16 Duke and No. 18 Clemson.
Meanwhile, Purdue, Kansas, Houston, Arizona, and UConn, in that order, represent the top five for the second week in a row.
The next UNC basketball outing is at home against unranked Charleston Southern at 8 p.m. ET Friday (ACC Network). That's the last non-conference game on the Tar Heels' regular season slate.
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Then, UNC encounters its first ACC road test when the team travels to face unranked Pitt at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2.
Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI.com for more UNC basketball news.
