AP Top 25 Basketball and Football Polls

The North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team has gotten off to a strong start early in the season, despite losing two key contributors in Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson. After two weeks, where will UNC be ranked? With only a couple of weeks remaining in the football season, will UNC’s football ranking take a hit after playing a FCS team so late in the season? If you get too full on turkey and early season basketball tournament action, there are plenty of rivalry football games between top 25 teams this week. What are your thoughts on this week’s polls and where writers have ranked the Tar Heels in both basketball and football?

Let’s take a closer look at this week’s AP Top 25 Polls.

AP Top 25 Poll - Basketball

1. Kentucky (42) 4-0

2. Villanova (21) 5-0

3. Indiana (2) 3-0

4. UNC 4-0

5. Kansas 2-1

6. Duke 4-1

7. Virginia 3-0

8. Arizona 3-0

9. Xavier 5-0

10. Louisville 3-0

11. Gonzaga 3-0

12. Creighton 4-0

13. Oregon 2-1

14. UCLA 4-0

15. Saint Mary’s 3-0

16. Wisconsin 2-1

17. Purdue 2-1

18. Syracuse 3-0

19. West Virginia 3-0

20. Baylor 3-0

21. Iowa State 3-0

22. Texas 3-0

23. Rhode Island 4-1

24. Michigan State 2-2

25. Florida State 4-0

25. Michigan 4-0

AP Top 25 Poll - Football

1. Alabama (61) 11-0

2. Ohio State 10-1

3. Michigan 10-1

4. Clemson 10-1

5. Wisconsin 9-2

6. Washington 10-1

7. Oklahoma 9-2

8. Penn State 9-2

9. Colorado 9-2

10. Oklahoma State 9-2

11. Louisville 9-2

12. USC 8-3

13. Florida 8-2

14. Western Michigan 11-0

15. Florida State 8-3

16. Auburn 8-3

17. Nebraska 9-2

18. Houston 9-2

19. West Virginia 8-2

20. Boise State 10-1

21. Utah 8-3

22. Texas A&M 8-3

23. Washington State 8-3

24. Tennessee 8-3

25. LSU 6-4

Where is UNC?

After defeating the University of Hawaii and improving their record to 4-0 on the season, the Tar Heels basketball team moved up one spot to number four (UNC benefited from Duke losing to Kansas earlier in the week, which is always a good thing).

The football team received no credit for their 41-7 victory over the Citadel this past Saturday, as they dropped two spots in the AP Poll to number 29. The Heels will have a tough time making it back into the top 25 next week, as they face a struggling NC State Wolfpack team on Friday.

UNC Bowl Projections

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports - TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Auburn

Colin Becht of Sports Illustrated - Belk Bowl vs. LSU

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports - TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Arkansas

Poller-Coaster

In basketball, Baylor, Michigan, and Florida State all enter the top 25 for the first time this year. California and Cincinnati dropped from the top 25 this week.

In football, Tennessee and Houston both make their way back into this week’s top 25, while both Troy and San Diego State fell out of the top 25 after losses.

Here are some of the biggest movers (up and down) in this week’s AP Top 25 polls:

Basketball: Michigan State - down 11 spots, Creighton - up 10 spots, Oregon - down 9 spots

Football: Louisville - down 8 spots, *Florida - up 8 spots, West Virginia - down 9 spots, Utah - down 10 spots, LSU - down 9 spots

*Florida sure got a lot of credit for that victory over a 6-4 LSU team (a team that is somehow still in the top 25).

Best Top 25 Games of the Week - Football

It is rivalry week in college football, so here are some of the best top 25 games of the week:

#25 - LSU at #22 - Texas A&M: Battle between two teams that are still in the top 25 because they are in the SEC.

#6 - Washington at #23 - Washington State: Battle for the Apple Cup and for the Huskies to try and remain in contention for the College Football Playoffs top four.

#3 - Michigan at #4 - Ohio State: Huge game to see who will probably represent the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff.

#16 - Auburn at #1 - Alabama: Will the Tigers be able to dethrone the Tide?

#13 - Florida at #15 - Florida State: ACC vs. SEC

What are they thinking? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Scott Wolf (Los Angeles Daily News) - Auburn at 7? Troy at 22?

Josh Kendall (The State) - Wisconsin at 2? Penn State at 3? Oklahoma at 4? USC at 6? All four of these teams over Washington, Michigan, and Clemson? This might be the worst ballot I have seen all season.

David Cloninger (The State) - UNC at 9 in basketball? See above, and you can see why I am really starting to question the quality of the sports journalists writing for The State down in Columbia, SC.

Conference Breakdown - Basketball

ACC - 6 teams

Big East - 3 teams

Big Ten - 5 teams

Big 12 - 5 teams

Pac-12 - 3 teams

SEC - 1 team

Conference Breakdown - Football

ACC - 3 teams

Big Ten - 5 teams

Big 12 - 3 teams

Pac-12 - 5 teams

SEC - 6 teams