After beginning the season with two convincing home wins, Carolina has moved up seven spots to No. 18 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, which was published Monday. The Tar Heels began the season ranked No. 25, their lowest preseason ranking in 20 years.

UNC began the season with a 40-point win against Central Arkansas last Monday, then overcame a 10-point deficit to then-No. 19 Kansas Friday and ran away from the Jayhawks in the second half, winning 87-74. Freshman forward Caleb Wilson reached the 20-point plateau in each of those games, becoming the first Tar Heel ever to do so in his first two career games. Wilson was named ACC Co-Rookie and Co-Freshman of the Week, sharing the honor with Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas.

The Tar Heels effectively flip-flopped with the Jayhawks, who dropped from No. 19 to No. 25 in the new poll. Duke is the highest ACC team at No. 4, two spots up from its No. 6 preseason spot. Louisville is next up at No. 12, down one from its preseason No. 11 ranking. NC State was the highest vote-getter not to be ranked in the poll, a spot which the Wolfpack also occupied in the preseason rankings. For a full look at the poll, click here.

Carolina will be back in action Tuesday night when it hosts Radford at the Smith Center at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet

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