University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels No. 6 In Preseason Coaches Poll
October 17, 2014 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL—The University of North Carolina men's basketball team is ranked No. 6 in the USA TODAY coaches' poll that was released on October 16, 2014.
This year's #6 preseason ranking is the 40th time the Tar Heels have selected to start the year as a Top 10 team. UNC has finished in the Top 10 in 31 of the previous 39 seasons in which it began in the Top 10 in the coaches' poll.
The coaches' poll began in 1950-51. This is the 61st time in 65 seasons in which the poll has been conducted by the coaches that the Tar Heels have been ranked at least one time.
Carolina's #6 ranking marks the 52nd season in which the coaches have ranked UNC in the Top 10. It's UNC's first Top 10 ranking by the coaches since the third week of the 2012-13 season.
The Tar Heels have been ranked in the Top 10 in the final coaches' poll 35 times, including six seasons as the #1 ranked team (1957, 1982, 1984, 1993, 2005 and 2009).
The Tar Heels have finished in the Top 10 in the coaches' rankings six times in Roy Williams' first 11 years as UNC's head coach (#1 in 2005, #5 in 2007, #3 in 2008, #1 in 2009, #8 in 2011 and #6 in 2012).
Seven of Carolina's scheduled opponents are also in the coaches' preseason Top 25, including #1 Kentucky, #3 Duke, #8 Virginia, #9 Louisville, #20 Ohio State, #24 Syracuse and #25 Iowa. Additionally, #4 Wisconsin, #7 Florida and #19 Oklahoma are possible opponents in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in late November.
