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).
ACC standings
Team | League | Overall |
---|---|---|
No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|
October | ||||
27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
November | ||||
6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
December | ||||
2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
————————— | ||||
29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
January | ||||
2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
February | ||||
3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
March | ||||
2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
ACC tournament Washington | ||||
14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
NCAA tournament | ||||
21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball