24. San Francisco (10-0)
When you win your first ten games of the season, you start turning heads, no matter who you’ve played. San Francisco has done this and as such are starting to turn more and more heads. They haven’t played any top-level opponents to this point but did score another solid victory this past week. Jamaree Bouyea scored 27 points in a dynamic effort as the Dons beat Fresno State 71-63 on Wednesday.
Ten straight wins is great to start any season, but the Dons haven’t really been challenged to this point, with the best wins over Davidson, Nevada, UAB, and Fresno State. Certainly, there will be chances to stand out once WCC play begins, but this offense looks solid and the defense does more than enough to win, at least ten games into the season. Ahead, the Dons get a tough game against Grand Canyon on Saturday before seeing Arizona State the following day. If San Francisco is 12-0; more people will be looking at these Dons.
23. North Carolina (7-2)
Aside from their two-game slide at the Mohegan Sun, the Tar Heels have taken care of business early on this season and are certainly trending in the right direction. North Carolina got a nice win against Michigan to get them back on track last week and continued that streak with two more wins this week. They began ACC play at Georgia Tech, getting 23 points from RJ Davis in a 79-62 win over the Yellow Jackets. This weekend was an easier match, securing an 80-63 victory at home against Elon.
North Carolina had some very rough outings earlier this season, but have had some of their best efforts these last two weeks, with that big win over Michigan standing out in particular. Both the outside shooting and the interior defense have looked better during this four-game winning streak. This upcoming week gives a home game against a solid Furman club, but it also presents a major challenge, as the Tar Heels will face off with UCLA in Las Vegas on Saturday night.