With college basketball season just around the corner, the Associated Press shared its preseason Top 25 poll for men’s college basketball on Monday — and UNC found itself in a familiar position for the program.

The Tar Heels and head coach Hubert Davis saw its 2024-25 team ranked No. 9 in the initial poll, marking a return to the preseason top ten after beginning the 2023-24 season at No. 19. With the ranking, it marks the 68th time in 77 seasons of the AP poll where Carolina was ranked at least once during the season. The last time UNC was ranked in the preseason top ten came in 2022-23, when Carolina began the season as the No. 1 overall team before struggling to a 20-13 record and missing the NCAA Tournament.

Carolina is one of only two Atlantic Coast Conference teams to make the initial rankings, with the rival Duke Blue Devils checking in at No. 7. The ACC itself has not released preseason media picks as of Monday.

The AP Preseason Poll features Kansas in the No. 1 spot, meaning a likely matchup with the top-ranked team when Carolina travels to Allen Fieldhouse to play the Jayhawks on Nov. 8 for their second game of the season. UNC’s Sweet 16 opponent in last year’s NCAA Tournament Alabama is ranked No. 2 in Monday’s poll — who they are also scheduled to face on Dec. 4 as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. The rest of the top ten is filled out with No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 6 Gonzaga, No. 8 Baylor, and No. 10 Arizona.

UNC men’s basketball played its Blue-White scrimmage over the weekend, and will begin a string of exhibition games against collegiate opponents on Tuesday. The Tar Heels will travel to Tennessee’s FedEx Forum to play the Memphis Tigers in a charity game benefitting St. Jude Children’s Hospital, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT. Carolina will also play Johnson C. Smith in an exhibition in Chapel Hill before the regular season begins with a matchup vs. Elon on Nov. 4.

For the full Associated Press Preseason rankings, click here.

Featured photo via AP Photo/Nick Wass.

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