College Basketball

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels fall one spot in AP Top 25

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:04 a.m. ET

Fansided, Blake Cockrum/FanSided via Keeping It Heel

North Carolina falls one spot to No. 8 in latest AP Top 25 poll

After losing to Kentucky in what might have been college basketball’s best game of the season, North Carolina falls one spot to No. 8 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.

The Tar Heels’ 103-100 loss was their only game of the week and first since narrowly beating Tennessee last Sunday.

It’s no surprise that the Tar Heels slid only one spot in the poll, given that the close loss came against the sixth-ranked Wildcats on a neutral court in Las Vegas.

UNC saw the return of starting point guard Joel Berry, who had been sidelined for two games with a sprained left ankle. He showed very little rust on Saturday against Kentucky, finishing the game with 23 points, seven assists and five rebounds before fouling out in the closing seconds.

Villanova remained atop the poll followed by UCLA and Kansas. Baylor and Duke came in at fourth and fifth, respectively, and Kentucky stayed put at No. 6.

Gonzaga and North Carolina traded places this week, with the former coming in at seventh in the poll. Creighton and Louisville rounded out the top 10.

In total, the Atlantic Coast Conference has six ranked teams in this week’s Top 25. Duke, North Carolina and Louisville all made the top 10, while Virginia, Florida State and Notre Dame took the 12th, 21st and 25th spots, respectively.

The Tar Heels now prepare for a home game against Northern Iowa in the rematch of a contest that they lost last season when starting point guard Marcus Paige was injured.