UNC Basketball climbs in AP Poll going into the final week of the regular season

For the second consecutive week and heading into the final week of the 2023-2024 college basketball regular season, the UNC Basketball program again improved its Associated Press Poll ranking. In last week's edition of the AP Poll, the Tar Heels rose one spot from No. 10 to No. 9. This week, it was a slightly bigger jump.

North Carolina jumped two spots from No. 9 to No. 7 in this week's AP Poll. The Tar Heels jumped Kansas, who lost both of its contest last week as well as Marquette, who dropped a game at Creighton over the weekend.

The Tar Heels have two remaining regular season games: a mid-week game against Notre Dame that will serve as senior night for several UNC Basketball seniors and the regular season finale at Duke next weekend. The AP Poll this week will set up for another top-10 rivalry showdown between North Carolina and Duke.

There is the possibility that the Tar Heels can clinch the ACC Regular Season championship on Tuesday night versus the Irish (with some help from other outcomes around the conference), however if those scenarios don't play out in favor of North Carolina, then the matchup in Durham could be for the ACC Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament next week.

Another note on the AP Poll, while the Tar Heels come in at 7th, it is no indication of how the committee views North Carolina along the seed line. A No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament is likely, but a No. 1 seed is not an unrealistic expectation either. While we are entering the final week of the regular season, plenty of basketball is left to be played across the country.

The UNC Women's Basketball program re-entered the conversation this week in the AP Poll as they were in the receiving votes category, coming in at 30th, tied with Duke and Columbia and receiving three votes.