The first week of 2026 didn’t go exactly to plan for UNC’s basketball teams.
The holiday season is now over, which means we’re due for the college basketball season to heat back up a bit. The week of Christmas especially is always a bit of a dead time in the season, ahead of conference play really getting going in the New Year. Last week, we didn’t even get new AP Top 25 polls.
However, the year 2026 did not start off great for either of UNC’s basketball teams, as both took losses in their first games of the new year. With that in mind, let’s see how the defeats affected the Tar Heels’ standing in the rankings, as it’s time for our weekly AP Poll roundup.
Men’s Basketball
AP Top 25
- Arizona (32 first place votes)
- Michigan (29)
- Iowa State
- UConn
- Purdue
- Duke
- Houston
- Gonzaga
- BYU
- Nebraska
- Vanderbilt
- Michigan State
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Louisville
- Tennessee
- Kansas
- Virginia
- SMU
- UCF
Where is UNC?
As mentioned, the Tar Heels are coming off a loss to SMU in their most recent game. That did cause Carolina to drop in the poll as a result. UNC fell five places this week and are down to #17.
Biggest Winners
SMU did move up a couple places and enter the poll as a result of their victory, so there’s that. The biggest jump of the week belongs to Iowa, though, who moved up six places thanks to a 12-2 start, with their only two losses coming to highly ranked Iowa State and Michigan State teams.
Biggest Losers
UNC actually tied with Kansas in terms of biggest falls for a team that stayed ranked. That being said, Florida had the biggest drop, going from #22 to unranked and way down the “others receiving votes” list, after taking a fifth loss on the season.
Conference Breakdown
- Big 12: 7
- Big Ten: 6
- ACC: 5
- SEC: 5
- Big East: 1
- WCC: 1
Marquee Matchups This Week
- #6 Duke (13-1, 2-0 ACC) at #20 Louisville (11-3, 1-1 ACC) – Tonight at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN
- #14 Texas Tech (11-3, 1-0 Big 12) at #7 Houston (13-1, 1-0 Big 12) – Tonight at 9:00 PM ET on FS1
- #13 Alabama (11-3, 1-0 SEC) at #11 Vanderbilt (14-0, 1-0 SEC) – Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN2
Women’s Basketball
AP Top 25
- UConn (28 first place votes)
- Texas (4)
- South Carolina
- UCLA
- Oklahoma
- Kentucky
- Vanderbilt
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Louisville
- Iowa State
- LSU
- TCU
- Iowa
- Michigan State
- Baylor
- Texas Tech
- Ole Miss
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- USC
- North Carolina
- Washington
- Princeton
- Nebraska
Where is UNC?
Again as mentioned, the Tar Heels are coming off a loss, having fallen to Stanford in overtime after leading by four in the final minute and change. While the Cardinal do appear decent, the loss did drop the Heels six places this week, falling to #22.
Biggest Winners
At 14-1, Michigan State has had a very impressive start to the season. That includes a victory over Ole Miss, and in their most recent game they ended a decently long win streak for a solid Illinois team. That’s raised the Spartans nine places and up to #14 this week.
Biggest Losers
Both losses came to fellow ranked teams in Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but LSU is now on a two-game losing streak after starting the year 14-0. Due to that, the Tigers suffered the biggest fall of anyone this week, dropping seven places and out of the top five.
Conference Breakdown
- Big Ten: 9
- SEC: 8
- Big 12: 4
- ACC: 2
- Big East: 1
- Ivy League: 1
Marquee Matchups This Week
- #18 Ole Miss (14-3, 1-1 SEC) at #5 Oklahoma (14-1, 2-0 SEC) – Thursday at 7:00 PM ET on SECN+
- #2 Texas (17-0, 2-0 SEC) at #12 LSU (14-2, 0-2 SEC) – Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on ESPN
- #5 Oklahoma (14-1, 2-0 SEC) at #6 Kentucky (15-1, 2-0 SEC) – Sunday at 4:00 PM ET on SEC Network
Category: General Sports
