College basketball rankings: After struggling earlier this season, North Carolina is heating up again
Heading into Tuesday's game vs. Virginia, the reigning NCAA Tournament runners-up are close to getting back into the Top 25 And 1
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
North Carolina suffered a four-game losing streak in late November/early December that led to the Tar Heels eventually being removed from the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 — not to mention the Associated Press Top 25 poll and the Coaches poll.
They remain unranked in all three.
But let the record show that the Tar Heels have responded by going 6-1 in their past seven games with victories over Ohio State, Michigan and Wake Forest and the lone loss coming at Pitt. According to BartTorvik.com, UNC is performing like a top-30 team in this stretch, which is among the reasons the Tar Heels are only 4.5-point underdogs Tuesday night at Virginia.
It's a big opportunity for UNC.
No school has ever gone from No. 1 in the preseason AP poll to unranked as quickly as the Tar Heels did this season, making them the sport's biggest early disappointment. It was a bad look. But Tuesday's road game against Virginia — the Cavaliers are No. 16 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings — is an opportunity to show the rough start was nothing more than a rough start and definitely not a sign of how January, February and March will unfold. If the Tar Heels upset Virginia, they'll improve to 4-5 in the first two quadrants with all five losses falling in Quadrant 1.
That's not a great resume for a preseason No. 1, obviously. But it is respectable and could be the type of resume that returns North Carolina to Wednesday morning's Top 25 And 1 (depending on what else happens around the country, of course).
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jarace Walker finished with 21 points and five rebounds in Sunday's 72-59 win at Cincinnati. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against South Florida. | -- | 13-1 |
| 2 |  | Zach Edey finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday's 76-63 win over Penn State. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against Nebraska. | -- | 13-1 |
| 3 |  | Gradey Dick finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 76-62 win at West Virginia. The Jayhawks' next game is Tuesday against Oklahoma. | -- | 10-4 |
| 4 |  | Adama Sanogo finished with 26 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 69-60 win over Creighton. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday at Marquette. | -- | 13-1 |
| 5 |  | Drew Timme finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 81-76 win at Santa Clara. The Zags' next game is Thursday at BYU. | -- | 15-1 |
| 6 |  | Brandon Miller finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 78-52 win over Kentucky. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday at Arkansas. | -- | 11-3 |
| 7 |  | Markquis Nowell finished with 32 points and 14 assists in Saturday's 97-95 OT win at Baylor. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Oklahoma State. | -- | 9-5 |
| 8 |  | Olivier Nkamhoua finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 85-42 win at South Carolina. The Vols' next game is Tuesday against Vanderbilt. | -- | 10-4 |
| 9 |  | Jaylen Clark finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 60-58 win over USC. The Bruins' next game is Thursday against Utah. | -- | 10-4 |
| 10 |  | Zach Freemantle finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 88-80 win at Villanova. The Musketeers' next game is Wednesday against Creighton. | -- | 9-6 |
| 11 |  | Arizona missed 21 of the 25 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 74-61 loss to Washington State. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday at Oregon State. | -- | 14-0 |
| 12 |  | Marcus Carr finished with 12 points and four assists in Saturday's 56-46 win at Oklahoma State. The Longhorns' next game is Wednesday against TCU. | -- | 9-5 |
| 13 |  | Gabe Kalscheur finished with 15 points and four assists in Saturday's 69-67 win at TCU. The Cyclones' next game is Tuesday against Texas Tech. | -- | 14-0 |
| 14 |  | TCU allowed Iowa State to shoot 52.5% from the field in Saturday's 69-67 loss to the Cyclones. The Horned Frogs' next game is Wednesday at Texas. | -- | 11-3 |
| 15 |  | Miami missed 27 of the 32 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 76-70 loss at Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes' next game is Wednesday against Boston College. | -- | 12-2 |
| 16 |  | Armaan Franklin finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 73-66 win over Syracuse. The Cavaliers' next game is Tuesday against North Carolina. | -- | 12-2 |
| 17 |  | Kobe Brown finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 85-82 win over Vanderbilt. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at Texas A&M. | -- | 11-3 |
| 18 |  | Noah Locke finished with 20 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 83-80 win over St. John's. The Friars' next game is Saturday at Creighton. | -- | 8-6 |
| 19 |  | Arkansas missed 14 of the 16 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 72-59 loss at Auburn. The Razorbacks' next game is Wednesday against Alabama. | -- | 11-3 |
| 20 |  | Lamont Butler finished with 23 points and two assists in Saturday's 80-75 win at Wyoming. The Aztecs' next game is Tuesday against Nevada. | -- | 9-4 |
| 21 |  | Wisconsin missed 21 of the 29 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 79-69 loss at Illinois. The Badgers' next game is Tuesday against Michigan State. | -- | 9-5 |
| 22 |  | Kam Jones finished with 17 points and four assists in Saturday's 95-73 win over Georgetown. The Golden Eagles' next game is Wednesday against UConn. | -- | 5-9 |
| 23 |  | Ohio State finished with 12 turnovers and just eight assists in Sunday's 80-73 loss at Maryland. The Buckeyes' next game is Thursday against Minnesota. | -- | 10-3 |
| 24 |  | Baylor allowed Kansas State to shoot 53.1% from the field in Saturday's 97-95 OT loss to the Wildcats. The Bears' next game is Wednesday at West Virginia. | -- | 10-3 |
| 25 |  | Dariq Whitehead finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 65-64 win at Boston College. The Blue Devils' next game is Wednesday against Pitt. | -- | 13-1 |
| 26 |  | Alijah Martin finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 71-67 victory over Charlotte. The Owls' next game is Wednesday at Florida International. | -- | 9-5 |
