Mark Gottfried’s two predecessors took opposite tacks in their approaches to N.C. State’s grudge match against North Carolina.

Herb Sendek downplayed the significance of the game, stressing it was only 1/16^th of the ACC schedule. Sidney Lowe, meanwhile, wore a red blazer to signify how important he thought it was.

Gottfried said Monday that he doesn’t own any red blazers, but he nonetheless embraced the implications of Thursday's meeting between the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels at the Smith Center at 7 p.m. (ESPN).

NCAA bars Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions from facilities at  N.C. State, Duke and North Carolina.

Leslie in the process of getting his list to five schools

Leslie, Cothron, Bullock, Harrow and Tabb all set to play in Glaxo in December.

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina senior forward Iman McFarland sprained her right ankle in practice on Wednesday and will miss Friday's game against Virginia.

"She won't play [Friday], but I don't know about Monday," said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell, whose No. 2-ranked Tar Heels face the No. 14 Cavaliers on Friday and No. 1 Connecticut on Monday.

McFarland, a 6-foot-3 forward from Temple Hills, Md., suffered a high ankle sprain after rolling it in practice coming down for a rebound. She was wearing a black medical boot on the sidelines at practice on Thursday.

In a reserve role this season she's averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game.

UNC host the Cavaliers in a key ACC matchup at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at the Smith Center.  

NOTE - UNC junior forward Jessica Breland, who sprained her ankle during Sunday's game against N.C. State, returned to practice this week. She will be available for Friday's game.

She fully participated in practice on Thursday and showed no signs of the injury.  

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP)—Beware, Western Michigan. Sylvia Hatchell doesn’t like to get embarrassed.
The North Carolina coach was livid at her team’s sloppy play in a win against Illinois and vowed to have the Tar Heels much sharper for their next game, which just happens to be against the Broncos on Dec. 28.
“This is not our typical team and I’m embarrassed that people saw us play like we did tonight,” Hatchell said.
Imagine how she’d react had the second-ranked Tar Heels lost instead of rallying past the Illini 68-59 on Saturday.
There was plenty for the coach to criticize. Still, Italee Lucas had 10 of her 19 points in an 18-2 run that lifted North Carolina to the victory and a 12-0 start for the third time in four seasons.

Here's my AP women's basketball ballot for Week 5.

No. 1 Connecticut (7-0)
No. 2 North Carolina (10-0)
No. 3 Stanford (7-1)
No. 4 Texas A&M (9-0)
No. 5 Oklahoma (8-2) 
No. 6 Texas (9-0)
No. 7 Baylor (9-1)
No. 8 Duke (6-1)
No. 9 Louisville (9-1)
No. 10 Tennessee (7-2)
No. 11 Auburn (10-0)
No. 12 Rutgers (6-2)
No. 13 California (8-2)
No. 14 Notre Dame (8-1)
No. 15 Maryland (8-2)
No. 16 Pittsburgh (7-1)
No. 17 Virginia (7-2)
No. 18 Ohio State (7-2)
No. 19 Vanderbilt (8-2)
No. 20 Oklahoma State (4-2)
No. 21. Arizona State (6-2)
No. 22 Florida (10-1)
No. 23 Kansas State (9-0)
No. 24 Georgia Tech
No. 25 TCU (8-3)
 

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Others receiving votes: Marist 59, Pittsburgh 40, Marquette 30, Florida St. 29, Hartford 24, Kansas St. 18, LSU 18, Georgia Tech 15, Arkansas 9, DePaul 8, Syracuse 8, Georgia 6, Coastal Carolina 4, Michigan 4, S. Dakota St. 4, Florida 3, Gonzaga 3, Utah 3, Montana 2.