Reeling UNC football drops out of AP Top 25; NC State back in. Here’s the latest poll

No. 24 North Carolina’s football season isn’t over, but the Tar Heels’ time ranked among the nation’s top 25 stopped Sunday thanks to a third consecutive loss.

After losing 39-10 to No. 10 Clemson in the ACC championship game at Charlotte on Saturday night to see their losing streak reach three games, the Tar Heels dropped out of the new poll released Sunday morning.

Coming off losses to Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Clemson, the Tar Heels (9-4) will head into their bowl game later this month as an unranked team.

Meanwhile, NC State (8-4) moved back into the poll at No. 25 after a two-week absence. The Wolfpack rose as high as No. 10 in the poll on Sept. 25. NC State was last ranked at No. 17 in the Nov. 6 poll.

Though they’ve received at least one vote in every poll this season, the Tar Heels were unranked over the first seven polls before finally entering the AP Top 25 at No. 22 on Oct. 16 when they were 6-1. UNC rose as high as No. 13 in the Nov. 13 poll, but a 21-17 loss to Georgia Tech followed by a 30-27 double-overtime setback to N.C. State sent the Tar Heels plummeting.

With the regular season and league championship games completed, Clemson, Florida State and N.C. State are the only ACC teams that will be ranked heading into their bowl games.

The No. 10 Tigers (11-2) stayed put in the top 10, just as they’ve been all but one week this season.

The No. 13 Seminoles (9-3), who moved up a spot from last week, first entered the poll this season on Sept. 23, making their first appearance since the 2018 season. They’ll be on a streak of five consecutive weeks in the poll when they play their bowl game.

At the top of the poll, Georgia has the No. 1 ranking on lock down as the Bulldogs (13-0) enter the College Football Playoff seeking their second consecutive national championship. They join No. 2 Michigan (13-0) as the only unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

TCU (12-1) stayed at No. 3 after losing 31-28 to Kansas State in Saturday’s Big 12 Conference championship game while No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) rejoining the top 4.

No. 8 Southern California (11-2) fell four spots its second loss of the season to Utah, this one in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game by a 47-24 score. The No. 7 Utes moved up five spots.

Latest AP poll football rankings

Steve Wiseman’s latest AP Top 25 ballot