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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels stay put at No. 8 in latest rankings

By Zack Pearson

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts to a call by the officials during the second half of their game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts to a call by the officials during the second half of their game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The UNC Basketball program heads to Durham to take on No. 1 Duke after the latest AP Top 25 rankings were released on Monday

The new Associated Press top 25 rankings are out and for the second-straight week, the North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t move up or down.

Instead, the Tar Heels stayed put at No. 8 in the poll following a 1-1 week that saw them lose a close home game to Virginia and then destroy Wake Forest on the road.  UNC is now 20-5 on the season and received 1,129 points in the poll, right behind No. 7 Michigan which has 1,150 points.

There was a shakeup at the top with former No. 1 Tennessee losing by double-digits on the road to Kentucky. The Volunteers fell from No. 1 to No. 5 with the loss.

Duke takes over the top spot in the rankings after an historic comeback on the road against Louisville last Tuesday. The Blue Devils then beat NC State at home to take over the top spot on Saturday.

The new rankings now set up a Top 10 matchup between No. 8 UNC and No. 1 Duke in Durham this Wednesday.

As for the rest of the Top 10, Gonzaga (No. 2), Virginia (No. 3) and Kentucky (No. 4) all moved up one spot along with Nevada (No. 6) and Michigan State (No. 10). Houston stayed put at No. 9 while Michigan and Tennessee both fell.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has a total of six teams ranked with Florida State moving up to No. 16, Louisville falling to No. 18 and Virginia Tech moving up to No. 20. They join Duke, Virginia and UNC who are all in the Top 5.

This week will be a big one for the Tar Heels and for obvious reasons.

They will head into Durham a game back of the Blue Devils for the top spot in the ACC and could use a big win to add to their resume. A win over Duke makes things very interesting in the conference with just a few weeks left, especially if Virginia can take care of Virginia Tech on Monday night.

Following the Duke game, UNC will host No. 16 Florida State in Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon.

Next. ACC announces future 20-game schedules. dark

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