UNC Basketball: Tar Heels climb in latest Bracketology
By Zack Pearson
Latest bracket predictions have UNC climbing up with just two weeks to play
The month of February ends on Wednesday and we are in the final week of Atlantic Coast Conference play before the conference tournament begins next week.
With just under two weeks left until Selection Sunday, seeding is starting to take some shape.
For North Carolina, they have positioned themselves to land a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and maybe more depending on how things play out over the next two weeks. A deep run or even winning the ACC Tournament could propel them even higher if things fall into place.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi just released his latest Bracketology for Monday morning, updated after the weekend of play and there’s some good news for the Tar Heels.
They have been moved up from a No. 3 seed in the East Region to the No. 2 seed in the West Region. That would mean, UNC is the eighth-best team according to Lunardi with Michigan State moving out of that spot and into the No. 2 seed in the Midwest.
The No. 1 seed in the West Region is Kansas after the Jayhawks won another Big 12 Conference championship.
Virginia (South Region), Villanova (East Region) and Xavier (Midwest Region) are the other No. 1 seeds. It’s likely that either Villanova or Xavier will fall from the No. 1 line after conference tournament play, leaving a spot open for a team like Michigan State, Purdue or even Duke (hate to say it) if they were to win their conference tournament.
The Tar Heels could move up on the No. 2 line and take Duke’s spot, earning an opening weekend in the city of Charlotte.
A 2-0 week plus a nice run in the ACC Tournament would certainly help their chances. Especially with one of those wins being against Duke.
While the Tar Heels moved up in Lunardi’s Bracketology, they stayed in the same spot in Jerry Palm’s prediction on CBS Sports. Palm listed the Tar Heels as a No. 2 seed in the West Region last week and has them in the exact same spot this week.
The big difference in the two predictions is that Purdue is the No. 3 seed in the West Region according to Palm, while Tennessee sits in that spot for Lunardi.
Both brackets have Arizona in the West. Palm has the Wildcats as a No. 5 seed, while Lunardi has them as a No. 4 seed.
Next: A look back at Joel Berry & Theo Pinson's journey at UNC
The Tar Heels will host Miami on Tuesday night in their home finale. They will honor the seniors following the game with a special ceremony.