UNC Basketball: Tar Heels on the bubble for NCAA Tournament?

Is the UNC Basketball program on the bubble in terms of the latest Bracketology for the 2021 NCAA Tournament? We take a look

This hasn’t been the ideal start for the UNC Basketball program here in Atlantic Coast Conference play but even at 8-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play, things have improved for the Tar Heels over the past few weeks.

Starting 0-2 in conference play with road losses to Georgia Tech and N.C. State are tough but since then, the Tar Heels have gone 3-1 to get back into the middle of the pack in the conference. But what about their NCAA Tournament hopes?

Just a few weeks back we wrote on the Tar Heels being a No. 10 seed in the updated Bracketology by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Since then, things have changed a bit and Lunardi thinks the Tar Heels are on the bubble for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

In his updated Bracketology released on Friday, Lunardi has UNC as one of the first four teams into the tournament along with Stanford, Oklahoma, and BYU. As part of the First Four In, Lunardi has them as a No. 11 seed taking on Oklahoma in a play-in game with the winner playing No. 6 UCONN.

The Tar Heels don’t really have an impressive resume to date with their best win being vs. Stanford and at home against Syracuse which is one of the first four teams out. That’s going to be the issue for UNC when it comes time for the selection committee to seed them and get their matchup.

The good news for UNC is that they do have time to turn things around.

They have games against Clemson, Duke, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Virginia, all teams currently ranked. The goal is to string together some wins and make a run in the ACC Tournament to improve their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Now, let’s see if they can do that starting on Wednesday against Wake Forest.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.