Monday, December 2, 2002
Heels (5-0) jump into poll after winning Preseason NIT
SportsTicker
Welcome back, Tar Heels.
Unranked at the start of the season and coming off the worst
year in the illustrious history of the program, North Carolina
wasted no time returning to the national rankings.
After winning the Preseason NIT, the Tar Heels (5-0) climbed all
the way to 14th in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches poll
released Monday (they're No. 12 in the latest AP poll). One of North Carolina's wins in the tournament came over Kansas (2-2), which dropped from second to 13th after a pair of defeats in New York.
The Tar Heels need only three more wins to match last season's
total of eight victories.
Arizona (2-0) was the unanimous No. 1 pick, receiving all 31
first-place votes and 775 points in a nationwide panel of
coaches.
No. 2 Texas (4-0), No. 3 Duke (3-0), No. 4 Pittsburgh (3-0) and
No. 5 Alabama (4-0) each moved up one spot. Oregon (3-0),
Oklahoma (3-1), defending national champion Maryland (3-0),
Florida (4-1) and Marquette (4-0) complete the top 10.
Florida slipped two spots after losing to Stanford in the
semifinals of the Preseason NIT. The Gators bounced back to beat
Kansas in the consolation game.
Indiana (4-0), which lost to Maryland in last season's national
championship game, joined North Carolina as the teams to make
the biggest gains of the week as the Hoosiers jumped nine slots
to 11th after capturing the Maui Invitational.
Connecticut (3-0) remained 12th, while Kansas, North Carolina,
Missouri (2-0), Xavier (2-1), Minnesota (2-0), Kentucky (2-1),
Tulsa (3-0) and Illinois (3-0) complete the top 20.
Michigan State (2-2), which lost to Villanova and Oklahoma State
in the Great Alaska Shootout, plummeted 11 notches to 21st.
Completing the poll are Stanford (4-1), Virginia (3-1),
Mississippi State (2-1) and Gonzaga (2-2).
Stanford and Virginia were not ranked last week, while Gonzaga
fell four notches after falling to Indiana and Kentucky in Maui.
No. 14 UCLA, No. 18 Georgia and No. 19 Cincinnati dropped out.
