University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Hoops Takes Top Spot In Polls
February 5, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2001
BACK AT NO. 1
Carolina is ranked No. 1 in the nation in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. This is the first time the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in those polls since late in the 1997-98 season, Bill Guthridge's first as UNC's head coach.
This is Carolina's first time atop either poll since March 8, 1998. UNC was ranked No. 1 in both polls that day. They were released the Tar Heels after beat previously No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament championship game. It was the final AP poll released that season. Carolina finished third behind NCAA champion Kentucky and Utah in the final coaches poll released on April 1.
DOHERTY AND CREMINS ONLY PLAYER-COACH NO. 1s IN ACC HISTORY
Matt Doherty is just the second person in Atlantic Coast Conference history to play for a No. 1 ranked team and be the head coach of a No. 1 ranked team. Bobby Cremins also accomplished the feat. In 1969-70, South Carolina was No. 1 in the preseason poll, but fell out of the top spot the next week. In 1985-86, Georgia Tech was No. 1 in the preseason poll, but fell out of the top spot the next week.
CAROLINA AND THE NO. 1 RANKING BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
- This is the 15th different season in which the University of North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 in the nation since the Associated Press began its rankings in 1948-49. The previous seasons include 1957, 1958, 1959, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998.
- This is the 80th week the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1. Carolina is third alltime in weeks ranked No. 1 in the country behind only UCLA (128) and Kentucky (87).
- Matt Doherty is the fourth different Carolina head coach to have his team ranked No. 1 in the nation and the second to accomplish this in his first season as UNC's head coach. Frank McGuire had teams ranked No. 1 in 11 weeks, Dean Smith had teams ranked No. 1 60 times and Bill Guthridge led the Tar Heels to the No. 1 ranking for eight weeks.
- Matt Doherty spent 29 weeks as a Tar Heel player ranked No. 1 in the nation. Carolina was 52-5 with Doherty in the lineup as the No. 1 team in the country, winning the NCAA title in 1982 and finishing No. 1 in the final poll in 1982 and 1984.
- This week's poll marks the 499th appearance in the Top 10. That is the second-highest figure in NCAA basketball history (Kentucky is first with 520 Top 10s). Carolina has appeared in the AP poll 642 times, more than any other school in history.
- Carolina has a 136-23 record as the No. 1 team in the AP poll. That included a 30-10 record in the 1990s. The Tar Heels are 47-5 at home as No. 1, 35-10 on the road and 54-8 at neutral sites.
- The Tar Heels are 8-1 vs. Wake Forest as No. 1 in the nation. This is the first meeting against Wake Forest with Carolina ranked No. 1 since March 3, 1993, an 83-65 UNC win in Chapel Hill. Wake Forest beat No. 1 ranked UNC, 55-48, in Chapel Hill on January 21, 1982. That was the first of two Carolina losses that season, but the Tar Heels went on to win the NCAA championship.
- Carolina has not played a game as the No. 1 team in the country since the 1998 NCAA semifinal loss to Utah in Indianapolis, Ind. The Tar Heels were 9-3 that season ranked No. 1 in the country.
CAROLINA AND THE COACHES POLL
- This is the 13th season in which the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation by the coaches (UPI, CNN/USA Today or ESPN/USA Today). Those seasons include 1957 (eight weeks), 1958 (two weeks), 1959 (one week), 1982 (nine weeks), 1983 (two weeks), 1984 (nine week), 1986 (12 weeks), 1987 (three weeks), 1993 (three weeks), 1994 (two weeks), 1995 (six weeks) and 1998 (eight weeks).
- This is the 66th week the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in the coaches poll.
