By R.L. Bynum
There is more agreement in bracket projections that No. 7 North Carolina will be the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Regional, but there are plenty of opportunities for the Tar Heels to change that in the next two weeks.
A week after Jerry Palm’s CBS projection had the league-leading Tar Heels (23–6, 15–3) as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, he is now projecting No. 4 Tennessee (23–6; which UNC beat 100–92 on Nov. 29) in that spot.
Palm now agrees with Joe Lunardi’s continued ESPN projection of UNC as the No. 2 seed in Boston at the Eastern Regional, with No. 2 UConn (26–3; which beat UNC 87–76 on Dec. 5) as that region’s No. 1 seed.
The average of 104 projections on Bracket Matrix has the Tar Heels as the second No. 2 seed behind Caleb Love’s No. 5 Arizona team (23–6), with Tennessee as the fourth No. 1 seed. Only two of those 104 projections — Bazinga Bracketology and Busted Bracketology — have UNC as a No. 1 seed.
After Duke (24–6, 15–4) won at N.C. State 79–64 on Monday night, the Blue Devils leapfrogged UNC in the NET rankings, with Duke now ninth and UNC 10th.
Carolina can clinch at least a share of the ACC regular-season title with a victory at 7 p.m. Tuesday over Notre Dame. UNC would clinch the title outright and the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC tournament by coupling a win over the Irish with a victory at Duke at 6:30 Saturday.
If UNC and Duke finish tied for first place, the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament would go to:
— Carolina if Pittsburgh (19–10, 10–8) or Wake Forest (18–11, 10–8) finish in third place (or tied for third place).
— Duke if Syracuse (20–10, 11–8) or Clemson (20–9, 10–8) are in third place (or tied for third place).
— Duke if Clemson, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Pittsburgh finish tied for fourth place, and Boston College (15–14, 6–12), Georgia Tech (13–16, 6–12) and Notre Dame (12–17, 7–11) finish tied for 12th place.
In relevant Tuesday games, Syracuse visits Clemson, Georgia Tech (13–16, 6–12) is at Wake Forest and Florida State (15–14, 9–9) is at Pittsburgh. On Saturday, Clemson is at Wake Forest, N.C. State (17–13, 9–10) visits Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech is at Virginia (21–9).
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 0–0 | 11–0 | 2 |
| California | 0–0 | 11–1 | 63 |
| No. 12 North Carolina | 0–0 | 10–1 | 15 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 0–0 | 9–1 | 21 |
| Miami | 0–0 | 10–2 | 33 |
| Virginia Tech | 0–0 | 10–2 | 55 |
| No. 11 Louisville | 0–0 | 9–2 | 17 |
| SMU | 0–0 | 9–2 | 43 |
| Stanford | 0–0 | 8–2 | 97 |
| Clemson | 0–0 | 9–3 | 31 |
| Notre Dame | 0–0 | 9–3 | 64 |
| Wake Forest | 0–0 | 9–3 | 59 |
| N.C. State | 0–0 | 8–4 | 34 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–0 | 7–4 | 188 |
| Syracuse | 0–0 | 7–4 | 95 |
| Florida State | 0–0 | 6–6 | 149 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–0 | 6–6 | 152 |
| Boston College | 0–0 | 5–6 | 185 |
* — Through Thursday games
Friday’s results
Florida State 96, Mississippi Valley State 49
California 97, Morgan State 50
Saturday’s games
Montana at No. 11 Louisville, noon, ACCN Extra
Lafayette at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Elon at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Ohio State vs. No. 12 North Carolina at CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBS
Northeastern at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ACCN Extra
Maryland at No. 23 Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Duke at No. 16 Texas Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN
Stanford at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 9 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | vs. Ohio State | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Carolina | ACCN |
| 30 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Florida State | ESPN2 |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | 2:15 | at SMU | The CW |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 or 2:30 | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 11 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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