Tar Heels move up seven spots in latest polls.

November 23, 1998

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina men's swimming and diving team, after a strong early-season showing, has moved up seven spots in the Speedo America's College Swimming Coaches Association's Top 25 Swimming Team ranking released Monday.

Coach Frank Comfort's Tar Heels, winners of six straight Atlantic Coast Conference championships, are currently ranked #15 in the nation, up seven places from a preseason ranking of #22. Meanwhile, the Tar Heel women, who were 12th in the NCAA Championships last year, remained in 16th place in the most recent rankings from the NSCAA. UNC's men have so far compiled a 4-1 dual-meet record, which includes a win over #11 Minnesota and their only loss to #6 Georgia. The Tar Heel women are 3-1-1, with a win over #8 Michigan, a loss to #2 Georgia and a tie with #13 Minnesota. This past weekend, UNC's men won the championship of the 1998 Nike Cup Swimming & Diving Championships, while the Tar Heel women finished second behind 23rd-ranked Clemson. Here are the complete polls:

Men (with poll points)

 1. Stanford, 350
 2. Texas, 330
 3. Auburn, 324
 4. Southern California, 299
 5. Tennessee, 285
 6. Arizona, 282
    Georgia, 282 
 8. Michigan, 236
 9. California, 226
10. Arizona State, 215
11. Minnesota, 203
12. Texas A&M, 162
    Florida State, 162
14. SMU, 146
15. North Carolina, 136
    Nebraska, 136
17. Florida, 134
18. Harvard, 115
    Virginia, 115
20. LSU, 98
21. Ohio State, 68
22. Miami (Fla.), 59
23. Iowa State, 40
24. Kansas, 36
25. Purdue, 23

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Indiana, Penn State, Hawaii, Pittsburgh, Princeton, UNLV, Cincinnati, BYU, Florida Atlantic, South Carolina, UC-Santa Barbara, TCU, N.C. State, Northeast Louisiana.

Women (with poll points)

 1. Stanford, 318
 2. Georgia, 310
 3. Arizona, 295
 4. SMU, 287
 5. Southern California, 283
 6. California, 241
 7. Auburn, 236
 8. Michigan, 215
 9. Nebraska, 207
10. Texas, 187
11. Northwestern, 173
12. Nevada, 169
13. Minnesota, 165
14. Florida, 159
15. Tennessee, 145
16. North Carolina, 133
17. UCLA, 131
18. Wisconsin, 127
19. Virginia, 91
20. Kentucky, 86
21. Arizona State, 69
22. Notre Dame, 45
23. Clemson, 40
24. Texas A&M, 36
25. Columbia, 18

Others Receiving Votes: LSU, Villanova, Kansas, Cincinnati, Miami (Fla.), TCU, Ohio University, Indiana, South Carolina, Colorado State, Missouri, Florida State, Illinois