UNC Basketball: Joe Lunardi moves Tar Heels back to 1-line

Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee in SEC semifinal game helps UNC basketball move back to 1-line in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology

Shortly after North Carolina lost its ACC semifinal game against Duke on Friday night, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi moved the Tar Heels from their perch on the 1-line down to the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region. The Blue Devils, on the other hand, jumped up from their previous spot on the 2-line back to the 1-line, where they have spent the majority of the season.

But then Saturday’s slate of conference tournament games began, and showed just how quickly NCAA Tournament projections can change during championship week.

In a narrow 82-78 loss to Tennessee in their SEC Tournament semifinal game, the former top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats dropped to the 2-seed in the West region, opening the door back up for the Tar Heels to take back their projected 1-seed just a half day after losing it. And that’s exactly what happened, as Lunardi quickly took to his bracket to update the top two seed lines after the eighth-ranked Volunteers knocked off Kentucky for the second time in two weeks.

Despite losing to Duke last night, North Carolina is back on the 1-line, and ahead of top-line mainstay Gonzaga, who will have better than a week between games after losing to St. Mary’s in the West Coast Conference title game on Tuesday.

The Tar Heels are now projected as the Midwest region’s top seed, with the Michigan State Spartans as their No. 2. Keep in mind, though, that Michigan State still has one game to play in its conference tournament — the Big 10 Championship Game against Michigan.

Will a Big 10 title and third win over Michigan this season be enough to propel the Spartans to the top line? And if so, will they jump the Tar Heels or the Bulldogs for their spot among the bracket’s 1-seeds? Moreover, will the NCAA Selection Committee still be putting brackets together by the time the game ends at nearly 6:00 p.m. EST?

In less than 24 hours, we’ll have the answers to all of these questions and more, as well as the first look at the 2019 NCAA Tournament bracket prior to the start of games next Tuesday.

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