UNC Basketball: Tar Heels snubbed in preseason power rankings

Andy Katz leaves UNC basketball out of his preseason top 25

The North Carolina Tar Heels are coming off their worst season of the Roy Williams era; a putrid 14-19 campaign that was marred by injuries, inexperience and inconsistency. Apparently NCAA college basketball writer Andy Katz hasn’t let go of the Tar Heels’ last-place ACC finish in 2019-20, because his recent power rankings for the upcoming season have the Tar Heels outside of the top 25.

On Thursday, Katz released his 2020-21 preseason Power 36, and the Tar Heels came in at No. 26. 25 rungs above North Carolina and in the list’s top spot is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs bring back a terrific roster in 2020, and begin the new season as a heavy favorite to reach the Final Four in Indianapolis. They’re followed by preseason Big 12 Conference favorite Baylor at No. 2, and Big East powerhouse Villanova at No. 3. A pair of Big 10 schools, Illinois and Iowa, round out the top 5.

A third Big 10 program, Wisconsin, comes in at sixth, while Virginia, the ACC’s highest-ranked team on the list, is seventh. The Kansas Jayhawks and Kentucky Wildcats are eighth and ninth, respectively, and the Rick Barnes-led Tennessee Volunteers are No. 10.

Other notable teams on the list are Duke at No. 11, Michigan State at No. 12, Michigan at No. 17, UCLA at No. 19 and Florida State at No. 21. Other programs that Katz ranks ahead of North Carolina on the list include Rutgers (13), Creighton (16), Houston (22) and Richmond (25).

It’s clear that Katz doesn’t feel too strongly about the Tar Heels’ chances this season, despite the fact that they return one of the nation’s top starting front courts, and welcome in college basketball’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class. Virtually no team in the nation will be able to match up with North Carolina’s size this season, as the Tar Heels boast six players listed at 6-foot-10 or taller. They also bring in a terrific pair of guards in Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, as well as a couple of 4-star wings in Puff Johnson and Kerwin Walton.

I look for the Tar Heels to surprise Katz, and quickly surpass his incredibly low expectations for them. With the kind of size and talent that the Tar Heels’ possess this season, and just enough experience and star-power, Roy Williams will have his squad primed and ready for a deep postseason run when the NCAA Tournament rolls around in March.

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