AP Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State (62) | 9-0 | 1,617 |
| 2 | Kansas (1) | 6-1 | 1,442 |
| 3 | North Carolina (2) | 7-1 | 1,425 |
| 4 | Iowa State | 6-0 | 1,347 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 7-1 | 1,325 |
| 6 | Maryland | 7-1 | 1,299 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 5-0 | 1,283 |
| 8 | Duke | 8-1 | 1,243 |
| 9 | Villanova | 7-0 | 1,230 |
| 10 | Virginia | 7-1 | 1,003 |
| 11 | Purdue | 8-0 | 997 |
| 12 | Xavier | 8-0 | 930 |
| 13 | Arizona | 7-1 | 811 |
| 14 | West Virginia | 7-0 | 615 |
| 15 | Providence | 8-1 | 548 |
| 16 | Baylor | 6-1 | 488 |
| 17 | Miami (FL) | 7-1 | 469 |
| 18 | Butler | 6-1 | 416 |
| 19 | SMU | 6-0 | 413 |
| 20 | Gonzaga | 5-2 | 399 |
| 21 | Vanderbilt | 6-2 | 377 |
| 22 | Louisville | 6-1 | 373 |
| 23 | Cincinnati | 8-1 | 331 |
| 24 | Oregon | 6-1 | 241 |
| 25 | Utah | 7-1 | 108 |
| Also Receiving Votes: Connecticut 82, Syracuse 78, Texas A&M 69, George Washington 60, UNLV 40, UCLA 19, South Carolina 15, Dayton 7, Arkansas-Little Rock 5, Georgetown 4, Florida 4, Pittsburgh 3, Iowa 3, Northwestern 2, Indiana 2, Notre Dame 1, Navy 1 | |||
| Dropped Out: Syracuse 14, Texas A&M 18 | |||
Not that we ever expect polls to be logical but UNC probably shouldn't have dropped all the way to 9th after the loss to Northern Iowa. The Tar Heels were still without Marcus Paige who is a pretty big piece to the Carolina contending for a national title puzzle.
That being said, UNC probably looked a little worse than anticipated, even without Paige in the lineup. The drop of nine spots was acknowledgement of that and hedging against the possibility that Paige's return might not buoy UNC as much as everyone thought. Heck, plenty of UNC fans took up the "Paige's return won't fix this team" mantra. The win over Maryland and UNC's straight dominance, especially on defense, of a good Davidson team made it clear this team is top five material, if not the best team in the country.
