ESPN analysts think UNC Basketball has more upside than Duke this year

This 2020-21 college basketball season has been a unique one with schedule changes and limited fans in attendance. It also started off sluggish for the UNC Basketball program in terms of their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, going 0-2 in their first two games.

But since then, UNC has figured it out going 6-1 in their last seven games and starting to find their groove.

It’s been a combination of things for UNC including running their offense through their bigs as well as getting better play from freshman Caleb Love. All together, UNC is clicking and could be a tough out come tournament time this year.

The Tar Heels still have 10 conference games left this season including two against Duke coming up in February and March. These 10 games will go a long way in terms of the Tar Heels’ tournament chances and seeding this year. But UNC isn’t the only team that has had their struggles as rival Duke has also dropped out of the Top 25 and currently sits at 6-5 overall.

Ahead of their two meetings, ESPN analysts Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi discussed the hot topics in college basketball including which program between UNC and Duke has the highest ceiling.

And for UNC fans, there is good news as a few think the Tar Heels have the higher upside of the two:

"Borzello: On the other hand, I think North Carolina is starting to figure things out. The Tar Heels have won six of their past seven games; they’re beginning to get the balance they’ve missed for most of the season; and they’ve cut back on turnovers — a huge problem early on. . . . Carolina is better than Duke now and should be better than Duke in March.Gasaway: I’ll second what my colleague Mr. Borzello said. With Duke in 2021, it’s unclear how the Blue Devils expect to win. At least with North Carolina it’s plain that the Tar Heels, per usual, want to crash the offensive glass and force misses in the paint."

While both Borzello and Gasaway think UNC has the higher upside, Medcalf thought otherwise saying that while the Tar Heels are better, he thinks Duke should continue to get better and should have the edge over UNC.

Lunardi offered something similar but did say that we haven’t seen Duke’s upside yet, hinting that we may not see it this year.

UNC will have the chance to prove themselves on February 6th when they travel to Durham for a showdown with the Blue Devils. Duke then comes to Chapel Hill on March 6th for the season finale.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, make sure to check back with Keeping It Heel.