The North Carolina Tar Heels will open up the college basketball season in just under a month as Hubert Davis' team has some unfinished business to take care of.

After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, the Tar Heels fell short in the NCAA Tournament as they were upset in the Sweet 16 at the hands of Alabama. But the Tar Heels return some key players in the backcourt and welcome in a good transfer and recruiting class for this year's roster.

As we get set for the upcoming season, the Associated Press has released its preseason Top 25 for the 2024-25 season. And cracking the top 10 are the Tar Heels.

North Carolina checks in at No. 9 in the preseason rankings, about where most predictions had them going into Monday.  They had 1,037 points and did NOT receive a first place vote.

Leading the way are the Kansas Jayhawks followed by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Houston, and No. 5 Iowa State. Duke checked in at No. 7 in the rankings as the Blue Devils and Tar Heels are the only ACC programs to make the preseason Top 25 this year.

Wake Forest received 37 votes while Miami had 11, Clemson had 9 and Louisville had 4.

The Tar Heels are currently scheduled to play Kansas and Alabama already this season. They could also play Iowa State and UConn in the Maui Invtational.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : North Carolina cracks top 10 in preseason AP Top 25 poll