Tigers might have long wait to be No. 1

Tigers might have long wait to be No. 1
Posted by Dan Wolken

This is a big week for the Tigers. Both games, at Cincinnati and vs. Georgetown on Saturday, are lose-able. But even if Memphis goes 2-0, I don’t see the Tigers getting to No. 1 in the polls any time soon. They are a solid No. 2 right now in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls to North Carolina, but the problem is that North Carolina’s schedule doesn’t give Memphis much of an opportunity to move up.

Here are North Carolina’s next five games:

Dec. 19 vs. Nicholls St.
Dec. 22 vs. UC-Santa Barbara
Dec. 27 vs. Nevada
Dec. 30 vs. Valparaiso
Jan. 2 vs. Kent State

The only tricky game in that bunch is Valparaiso, which is 10-1 with a loss at No. 17 Vanderbilt. Still, I’d expect UNC to go into Clemson on Jan. 6 with a 14-0 record. If Memphis can survive Cincy, Georgetown and Arizona on Dec. 29, the Tigers will have a great shot to be No. 1 sometime in January. But if they drop one of those games, Carolina will be very tough to catch in the polls.