The No. 25 spot is a very popular spot for the North Carolina Tar Heels in the preseason rankings.  Last week we cited ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook who both placed UNC in the very last place in their projections.

Now we can add CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish to the group.  He also gives the Heels the same spot in the pecking order, and he mentioned them specifically when he brought up the change in the national college basketball environment.

“Just look at North Carolina, one of the biggest brands in college basketball, and how the Tar Heels lack anything resembling roster-continuity,” Parrish wrote. “Six players entered the transfer portal after the season. Seth Trimble is the only notable player returning. None of that is ideal. But UNC coach Hubert Davis and his staff have spent the past two months adding interesting pieces from all over in an attempt to remake the roster — with the latest addition being Luka Bogavac, a 6-foot-5 guard from Montenegro who has been playing professionally for SC Derby in the ABA League, where he averaged 14.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists this past season while making 39.9% of the 3-pointers he attempted.”

Parrish gave a brief summary of each team’s roster.  When it came to UNC he wrote, “This ranking is based on the Tar Heels returning one of the top three scorers — specifically Seth Trimble — from a team that finished 23-14 and advanced to the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. That core will be joined by a recruiting class highlighted by Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar, Alabama transfer Jarin Stevenson, West Virginia transfer Jonathan Powell, Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans, Virginia Tech transfer Jaydon Young, five-star freshman Caleb Wilson, four-star freshmen Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon, and international prospect Luka Bogavac.”

St. John’s came in at No. 1 in the CBS rankings followed by Houston, BYU, Purdue, and UCONN in the top-five.  Duke is the highest ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team at No. 9.  Louisville is No. 15, giving the league three teams in the poll.  The Tar Heels play a home-and-away with the Blue Devils on February 7 and March 7.  They will host the Cardinals on February 23. 

Kentucky and Michigan State are the two ranked non-conference opponents the North Carolina will face in the early part of the season.  The Wildcats are No. 10.  UNC will travel to Lexington on December 2 for the ACC/SEC Challenge.  The Spartans stand at No. 15.  They will meet up with North Carolina on November 27 in Fort Myers, Florida. 

Isaac Trotter followed up on the rankings with an article of his own about each team’s projected starting lineups.  Trotter predicted Kyan Evans, Seth Trimble, and Luka Bogavac on the perimeter, Caleb Wilson at the four, and Henri Veesaar at the center position.          

Trotter also commented, “UNC desperately needs a fourth ball-handling guard to emerge behind Evans, Trimble and Bogavac. They don’t need to be a star, but it raises UNC’s floor if they can be solid on both ends and play mistake-free basketball. Dixon has a smooth, well-rounded game and was battle-tested in high school. He’ll compete with Young for that coveted role. The Virginia Tech transfer has a rock-solid frame, but he has to sharpen up his decision-making. Powell will provide some 3-and-D vibes, but he isn’t much of a ball-handler. Maybe another fringe top-50 freshman (Denis) can jump into the fray?”  

In a separate article, Trotter also chose North Carolina’s Seth Trimble as the fourth best defensive jumbo utility guard.  These were defined as, “Players usually have good positional size and can defend multiple archetypes: shooters, scorers, point guards and even some wings.”                                      

When it comes to Trimble, Trotter wrote, “It was not a smart idea to try and drive against Trimble. The UNC guard held opponents to a miniscule 0.56 points per chance on 55 drives, according to Synergy. That’s one of the best marks out there. Trimble is strong, smart and defends without fouling very well. His second jump is impressive and he walls off openings. UNC should have improved rim protection which should unleash Trimble to be even nastier at the point of attack.”