UNC Basketball slides right out of the latest AP Top 25 Poll

As expected, the UNC basketball program dropped out of the Week 6 AP Top 25 Poll. North Carolina needs to turn this season around fast — as they’re off to their worst start since 2001-2002.

Not only are the Tar Heels unranked, but a whopping 16 unranked teams received more votes than UNC. The team just outside the Top 25 receiving the most votes was Baylor, with 150. North Carolina only received 24 votes—yikes!

Since the Tar Heels’ No. 20 ranking in the Week 5 AP Poll, they lost at home to Alabama by 15 and scraped by Georgia Tech at home with a 3-point win. The Tar Heels have looked incredibly shaky and inconsistent to say the least, and UNC certainly didn’t give the poll voters any reason to keep them in the rankings.

The one piece of good news is that it’s very early, and nobody has won a title in December. The bad news is that UNC needs to figure things out quickly, and they’re running out of opportunities for signature, Quad 1, and non-conference wins.

North Carolina plays La Salle on Saturday. This game is not only a must-win for UNC, but the Tar Heels must dominate to gain some confidence and get into a rhythm. Because right after, the Tar Heels play a long, athletic Florida team, ranked No. 9 and a hot UCLA team, ranked No. 24. Then the Tar Heels have another must-win game versus Campbell, before the meat of conference play starts up.

Florida is unbeaten on the season, and their size will surely give UNC some matchup problems. To walk away victorious, the Tar Heels will need to buy in on defense, gang rebound, and hit 3-pointers — something they have struggled immensely with the last two games. The Tar Heels’ primary strength is their talented and deep guard group. But 5-24 3-point shooting (versus Georgia Tech) or 5-28 3-point shooting (versus Alabama) isn’t going to get it done. If this team can’t shoot well from deep, they will struggle to win games — plain and simple.

For the sake of picking up quality wins and building a strong resume, North Carolina needs to win at least one of the games versus Florida and UCLA, but preferably both. Tar Heel nation hasn’t given up on this group of guys, but as it stands, it’s difficult having confidence in Coach Davis’ gameplan, the team’s lackluster defensive effort and the recent shotmaking woes.

This team definitely has some glaring problems, but the talent is there and irrefutable. Can the Tar Heels go on a little winning streak before conference play and turn things around? A March Madness berth and the state of this season may depend on it.