UNC Basketball: Where do Tar Heels rank in Lunardi’s 2021 Bracketology?

Where does ESPN’s Joe Lunardi rank the UNC basketball program in his ‘Way-Too-Early’ 2021 Bracketology?

With sports coming to a screeching halt in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, we’ve begun debating everything from our favorite movies to the most beloved snack foods of our time. Yeah, it’s gotten that bad.

College basketball, in particular, stopped on a dime just days before the 2020 NCAA Tournament was set to commence, marking the first time since 1938 that the end-of-season tourney hasn’t taken place. Given that there’s so little to talk about in the world of basketball — and sports in general — ESPN’s Joe Lunardi decided to take a way-too-early look at next season’s NCAA Tournament field, and which 68 teams he’d place in the bracket, better than 300 days in advance.

Gonzaga, Villanova, Creighton and Kentucky got nods for the field’s No. 1 seeds, while Virginia, Duke, Baylor and Kansas sit on the two-line. Texas Tech, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa are 3-seeds in their respective regions, and San Diego State, West Virginia, Florida State and Houston round out the tournament’s top 16 teams.

North Carolina headlines a quartet of 5-seeds that includes Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan. The Tar Heels are coming off their worst season of the Roy Williams era; one that saw them lose 19 games and finish in a three-way tie for last-place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. UNC fans would argue that the Tar Heels’ placement in the bracket is rather low, but others might wonder what basis Lunardi has for giving a top-20 overall seed to a team that lost four or more consecutive games on three occasions last season.

Well, it helps that the Tar Heels return their best all-around player in soon-to-be senior Garrison Brooks. The 6-foot-9, 235-pound power forward from Lafayette, Alabama averaged 16.8 points on 53.5 percent shooting to go along with a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game. His growth from sophomore to junior season was remarkable, as Brooks established himself as the Tar Heels’ No. 1 option on offense over the course of the season. He should begin the 2020-21 season as a preseason All-American, and the heavy favorite for ACC Player of the Year.

Brooks will be joined by rising sophomore center Armando Bacot. The freshman big man averaged 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in a season that certainly saw him endure his fair share of ups and downs. That’s expected of a somewhat raw, but talented rookie post player in one of the nation’s premier hoops conferences, though. If we see the kind of progression from year one to year two that we often have in the past with Roy Williams-coached big men, he could be in for a dynamic second season in Chapel Hill.

If the Tar Heels have any luck at all — and they certainly didn’t last season — then they’ll return a pair of healthy sophomore guards in Jeremiah Francis and Anthony Harris. Both have dealt with multiple serious lower body injuries over the past couple of years, but if healthy, their contributions on next year’s squad could be significant. A junior Leaky Black will split time with them in the back court, and in the front court, where he is likely to get the starting wing role next season.

Maybe the most significant anecdote on next season’s team, though, is the outstanding freshman class that’s ranked No. 3 in the nation. That’s thanks to three 5-star players, four McDonald’s All-Americans and all five members of the class being ranked inside the top-54 of the 247Sports Composite. The Tar Heels may have the best front court in the nation when Brooks and Bacot are joined by 5-star bigs Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler. Both players have size and athleticism, and are ranked inside the top-20 among next season’s incoming freshmen.

Perhaps the most vital piece of UNC’s 2020 recruiting class is the addition of 5-star point guard Caleb Love, and 4-star combo guard R.J. Davis. The sensational duo will likely stand side-by-side in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup, and give North Carolina infinitely more depth and talent where they lacked it a season ago. Puff Johnson, younger brother of former UNC sharpshooter Cameron Johnson, joins North Carolina next season as a knock-down jump shooter ranked inside the top-50.

And while that’s a pretty good argument for why the Tar Heels deserve an early nod for a 5-seed in next year’s tourney, I believe their position in the bracket is actually considerably low. The star-power of Love and Davis in the UNC back court combined with the sheer size and skill that North Carolina will boast in the low post is noteworthy. It should help them compete not only for a double-bye in next season’s ACC Tournament, but also for a top 15-to-20 national ranking throughout the 2020-21 campaign.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC basketball program.