The Hoop Tar Heels are nationally ranked… what, again?

Most news outlets give you the nuts and bolts of the preseason AP college basketball rankings. You know, Michigan State is No. 1, followed by Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Louisville. The Tar Heels are picked No. 9, along with No. 6 Florida, Maryland, Gonzaga and Villanova filling out the top ten.

UNC’s Sports Information Office, which years ago decided to never mention another school unless it was absolutely necessary, spins it differently. Like their release on Monday doesn’t even say that Michigan State is ranked at the top of the poll. Who cares, since the Tar Heels are not scheduled to play the Spartans during this coming regular season, not even possibly.

UNC focuses on how tough Roy Williams’ 2019-20 slate is with five other top 20 teams and the chance that Carolina will play two more from the preseason poll — like No. 12 Seton Hall and No. 15 Oregon are possible opponents in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

But it does provide some pretty amazing nuggets about Carolina’s history in the polls. Such as, this is the 101st consecutive week that there has been a poll with the Tar Heels in it and the 14th straight year they are ranked in the AP’s preseason Top 25. A year ago, they opened at No. 8 and ended at No. 3.  Now, that was a team that had three seniors and four starters back.

So after losing four starters and its five leading scorers heading into this season, would you take another No. 3 finish in the polls? Of course not, unless Carolina winds up No. 1 in the NCAA tournament.

Another factoid that made it into UNC’s official release. This is North Carolina’s 917th time in the AP poll, the most rankings of any school in the country. It’s also the 57th time in 72 years the AP has ranked the Tar Heels in the top 10 at some point in the season.

If you are still reading or listening, Carolina plays No. 4 Duke twice, No. 5 Louisville once, No. 8 Gonzaga once and maybe a second time in the Bahamas, No. 11 and defending national champion Virginia once and No. 18 Ohio State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The final AP Poll comes out before the NCAA tournament, which explains where UNC finished in the rankings two of the last four years. The Heels closed at No. 3 in 2016, when they lost to Villanova in the title game; and No. 5 in 2017, when they won it all.

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