UNC Basketball: Tar Heels move to one seed in latest Bracketology
By Zack Pearson
ESPN has released its latest Bracketology and there’s good news for Tar Heels fans
The North Carolina Tar Heels are in tough stretch to end their season with four of their last five games coming against ranked teams.
They started that tough stretch off with a big win over the Virginia Cavaliers 65-41 on Saturday night to stay in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The win also helped UNC’s tournament resume, scoring a big over a ranked opponent. But it also helped them in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.
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UNC’s win plus Baylor’s loss to Kansas moved UNC to a one seed along with Villanova, Kansas and Gonzaga.
Here’s how it breaks down:
- East: Villanova
- Midwest: Kansas
- South: UNC
- West: Gonzaga
Essentially, after Saturdays games UNC and Baylor switched places as the Bears move down to the two seed in the South.
With their win UNC also moved up in ESPN’s BPI, a rating designed to measure a team’s strength and performance moving forward. The Tar Heels were the biggest jumper in this week’s BPI rankings moving up to No. 2 behind only Villanova.
UNC is the biggest mover in the BPI, but Villanova still holds the top spot. Check out our weekly BPI post. https://t.co/q4iJjnkPyh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 20, 2017
It’s pretty simple for the Tar Heels moving forward. Win out and you’re going to win the ACC and likely get a No. 1 seed.
The next test comes Wednesday when the Tar Heels host Louisville in the Dean Dome. The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25 and are a No. 2 seed in the East Region.
Another interesting note about the latest Bracketology is that the ACC has a total of 10 teams in the tournament. That’s the most by far among conferences, with the Big 10 and Big 12 having seven each.
Georgia Tech is among the last four in and both Clemson and Wake Forest are among the last four out.
If the Tigers and Demon Deacons can pickup some big wins down the stretch, the ACC could have 12 teams reach the tournament.