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. 4 Duke | 8–0 | 19–1 | 2 |
| No. 22 Clemson | 7–1 | 17–4 | 29 |
| No. 17 Virginia | 6–2 | 17–3 | 16 |
| Miami | 6–2 | 17–4 | 36 |
| N.C. State | 6–2 | 15–6 | 27 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 4–3 | 16–4 | 26 |
| SMU | 4–3 | 15–5 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–4 | 16–6 | 54 |
| No. 20 Louisville | 4–4 | 14–6 | 19 |
| California | 3–5 | 15–6 | 56 |
| Stanford | 3–5 | 14–7 | 77 |
| Syracuse | 3–5 | 12–9 | 80 |
| Boston College | 2–5 | 9–11 | 157 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–6 | 11–10 | 140 |
| Notre Dame | 2–6 | 11–10 | 82 |
| Wake Forest | 2–6 | 11–10 | 67 |
| Florida State | 2–6 | 9–12 | 107 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–6 | 9–12 | 118 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Monday’s result
No. 4 Duke 83, No. 20 Louisville 52
Tuesday’s results
Pittsburgh 80, Wake Forest 76, OT
N.C. State 88, Syracuse 68
No. 17 Virginia 100, Notre Dame 97, 2 OTs
Virginia Tech 71, Georgia Tech 65
Wednesday’s results
Florida State 63, California 61
Miami 79, Stanford 70
Saturday’s games
No. 4 Duke at Virginia Tech, noon, ESPN
Pittsburgh at No. 22 Clemson, noon, ACC Network
No. 17 Virginia at Boston College, 1:30, The CW
No. 16 North Carolina at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 23 Louisville, 2 p.m., ESPN
N.C. State at Wake Forest, 3:45, The CW
California at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at Syracuse, 6 p.m., The CW
Monday’s game
Syracuse at No. 16 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 13 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. 14 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. 7 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 | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 17 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 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. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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