Tar Heels No. 8 In Preseason AP Poll

CHAPEL HILL—The University of North Carolina will enter 2018-19 ranked eighth in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 men's basketball poll, released on Monday.

The Tar Heels will start the season in the AP top 10 for the 13th time in head coach Roy Williams' 16 seasons with Carolina.

Kansas took the top spot with 37 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Kentucky (19 first-place votes), No. 3 Gonzaga (1), No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Virginia (2), No. 6 Tennessee (1) and No. 7 Nevada. The Tar Heels came in at No. 8, followed by No. 9 Villanova (1) and No. 10 Michigan State.

Other Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the poll include No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 17 Florida State and No. 22 Clemson. The ACC's eight teams in the poll were the most of any conference, followed by the Southeastern Conference with five.

The Tar Heels' challenging 2018-19 schedule includes at least 10 games against teams ranked in the AP preseason poll: No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 Duke (twice), No. 5 Virginia, No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 17 Florida State, No. 19 Michigan and No. 22 Clemson.

Carolina and the Associated Press Poll Notes

• Carolina is ranked in an AP poll for the 896th time, second-most in college basketball history.

• UNC is ranked in the top 10 for the 670th time, most in ACC history and second-most all-time behind Kentucky's 685.

• This is the 56th time in the 71 seasons of the poll the Tar Heels have been ranked in the top 10 in at least one week of the poll.

• This is the 13th time in Roy Williams' 16 seasons as head coach the Tar Heels enter the year ranked in the top 10. UNC finished the year in the AP poll top 10 10 times in Williams' first 15 seasons.

• Carolina has finished in the top 10 of the AP poll 37 times, including 26 of the last 38 years.

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