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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ highest final USA Today ranking in five years

By Blake Cockrum

Mar 25, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love (2) and guard Leaky Black (1) and forward Armando Bacot (5) and guard R.J. Davis (4) celebrate in the second half against the UCLA Bruins in the semifinals of the East regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 25, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love (2) and guard Leaky Black (1) and forward Armando Bacot (5) and guard R.J. Davis (4) celebrate in the second half against the UCLA Bruins in the semifinals of the East regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The UNC basketball program rose 26 spots in the final USA Today Top 25 Poll of the season.

Following one of the most impressive late-season surges we’ve seen from North Carolina in recent years — or any other program for that matter — the Tar Heels finished the 2021-22 college basketball season as the No. 2 team in the country according to the final USA Today Top 25 poll. It’s North Carolina’s highest final ranking since winning the national championship in 2017.

Despite being No. 25 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll of the regular season, the 23-8 Tar Heels hadn’t yet worked their way back into the USA Today Top 25. They won a game and then lost a game in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament the following week and ultimately earned an 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s when the new-look Tar Heels, similar to the form they showed in a sensational and unexpected performance against the Duke Blue Devils in the teams’ regular-season finale, went on a five-game winning streak in the big dance.

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First, they took down the ninth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles by 32 points prior to an upset of top-seeded Baylor in the Round of 32. Then, they beat the East Region’s No. 4 seed, the UCLA Bruins, and followed that up with a win over the tournament’s Cinderalla sweetheart team, the Saint Peter’s Peacocks.

That was followed up with another win over Duke in the Final Four, a game that will give UNC fans bragging rights for all eternity, before eventually falling to the Kansas Jayhawks in the National Championship Game.

Given their surprising turnaround and tremendous play over the season’s final month, North Carolina’s move from 27th to second in the USA Today Top 25 Poll was not only warranted but deserved. And they may see a similar ranking to begin the 2022-23 season if they can bring back the majority of a lineup that won 29 games and narrowly missed a national title in year one of the Hubert Davis era.

dark. Next. G.G. Jackson to North Carolina?

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