The Tar Heels are officially a top ten team. It remains to be seen if the CFP Committee does the same.
| Rank | AP | Coaches |
| 1 | Clemson (53) | Clemson (58) |
| 2 | Alabama (8) | Alabama (5) |
| 3 | Oklahoma | Iowa (1) |
| 4 | Iowa | Oklahoma |
| 5 | Michigan State | Michigan State |
| 6 | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| 7 | Stanford | Stanford |
| 8 | North Carolina | North Carolina |
| 9 | Notre Dame | Florida State |
| 10 | Florida State | Notre Dame |
| 11 | TCU | TCU |
| 12 | Baylor | Baylor |
| 13 | Northwestern | Northwestern |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State |
| 15 | Oregon | Florida |
| 16 | Ole Miss | Oregon |
| 17 | Houston | Ole Miss |
| 18 | Florida | Houston |
| 19 | Michigan | Michigan |
| 20 | Temple | Utah |
| 21 | Utah | Temple |
| 22 | Navy | Navy |
| 23 | LSU | LSU |
| 24 | USC | USC |
| 25 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin |
At present UNC is ranked #9 in the AP Basketball Top 25 so for now at least, UNC football is ranked higher than UNC basketball but both in the top ten. The last time the former was true was in 1996.
November 11, 1996, @TarHeelFootball was ranked #6; @UNC_Basketball was ranked #8 in preseason. That’s the most recent time I could find.
— Turner Walston (@TurnerWalston) November 25, 2015
The most recent point in history with both teams in the top ten was 1998 where UNC basketball was on the way to the Final Four that season and football throttled Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl. UNC was ranked #6 in the final AP Poll of the 1997 football season on January 3rd, 1998. Three days later, the January 6th AP Poll for basketball had the Tar Heels #1.
