North Carolina Tar Heels: Fifth in latest AP Rankings
The North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils got some good news in the latest polls.
The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils both improved their positioning in the latest Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll which means that Wednesday’s matchup will be a matchup between ranked teams. North Carolina was elevated to the fifth seed while Duke reentered the poll at the twentieth position.
That will add an extra spice to a rivalry game that was already full of meaning. Besides it being Duke and Carolina, both teams are playing for different stakes right now. North Carolina is trying to stay on the poll position for the ACC regular season title. Duke is trying to climb up into the fourth seed in the ACC in order to get that double bye in the first days of the ACC Tournament.
Historically this is a game with some meaning as well. Both Roy Williams title teams in 2005 and 2009 beat the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill. Now those teams saw Duke in the Dean Dome at the very end of the season, but this 2016 team has all the expectations that followed around those other squads. They will be favored most likely.
Duke will be looking for another chance to show the doubters that it does not plan on simply going away, Amile Jefferson or no. This would impress more people who wrongly think Duke is a bubble team. Brandon Ingram, the most hotly contested recruit since Harrison Barnes, will get his shot to show that he did make the right decision on where to play his college career.
The AP Top 25 Basketball Poll:
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1. Villanova Wildcats (22-3)
2. Kansas Jayhawks (21-4)
3. Oklahoma Sooners (20-4)
4. Iowa Hawkeyes (20-5)
5. North Carolina Tar Heels (21-4)
6. Maryland Terrapins (22-4)
7. Virginia Cavaliers (20-5)
8. Michigan State Spartans (21-5)
9. Xavier Musketeers (22-3)
10. West Virginia Mountaineers (20-5)
11. Miami Hurricanes (20-4)
12. Arizona Wildcats (21-5)
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13. Iowa State Cyclones (18-7)
14. Kentucky Wildcats (19-6)
15. Dayton Flyers (21-3)
16. Oregon Ducks (20-6)
17. Purdue Boilermakers (20-6)
18. Louisville Cardinals (19-6)
19. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-7)
20.
Duke Blue Devils (19-6)
21. SMU Mustangs (21-3)
22. Indiana Hoosiers (20-6)
23. Providence Friars (19-7)
24. Texas A&M Aggies (18-7)
25. Baylor Bears (18-7)
A quick look will note that two teams ineligible for the tournament do occupy spaces in the top 25, SMU and Louisville. Duke and North Carolina play tomorrow night.