Men's basketball's fall from grace -

From pre-season No. 6 to mid-season unranked

UNC men's basketball rankings decline. DTH/ Ryan Kurtzman and Christine Hellinger

Even after winning a national championship, an AP No. 6 preseason ranking wasn’t too shabby.

North Carolina had a young team, but still boasted veteran leadership and truckloads of potential by the time Late Night with Roy rolled around.

Despite an early loss to Syracuse in the 2K Sports Classic, UNC remained in the top 15 in the nation.

North Carolina then plateaued at the top-10 mark, going between No. 9 and No. 11 for seven weeks despite losses to Kentucky and Texas.

Week 9 saw the Tar Heels drop an embarrassing game at College of Charleston, but the AP writers didn’t drop them in their rankings. UNC went just to No. 12.

That’s when the wheels fell off the wagon.

Back-to-back losses to Clemson and Georgia Tech set UNC back to No. 24 with a 12-6 record. Columnists began commenting that UNC’s ability to hang in the polls had something to do with the history behind the program.

With the loss to Wake Forest on Wednesday, even those AP writers who are closeted UNC fans could not put in a single vote for the Tar Heels.

For the first time since January 2006, Chapel Hill did not have its residents in the AP poll.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.