UNC Basketball: Tar Heels climb latest Bracketology projections

After an 0-2 start in Atlantic Coast Conference play, the UNC Basketball program has gone 6-1 in their last seven games, turning the corner and getting better as the season has gone on.

What once seemed like dim hopes to make the NCAA Tournament turned into being on the bubble and then all the way into the 68-team field. As they set to face a week where they will be on the road at Clemson and at Duke, the Tar Heels are starting to climb the mock brackets ahead of March.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is updating his bracket multiple times per week, attempting to give college basketball fans an updated look at what is going on following games. But this year is a little wild in terms of the tournament moving to the state of Indiana for its entirety and the potential of teams having to opt out if there are Covid-19 cases.

On Monday night and early Tuesday morning, Lunardi released his updated look at where his field stands. In that updated field, the Tar Heels are starting to climb a bit and have moved into the 8/9 game as the 9 seed.

Lunardi has UNC as the No. 9 seed in Region 1 going up against No. 8 Drake. The matchup is in the top region with No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga looming in the second round. That region also has No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Missouri and No. 5 Kansas in it.

UNC has moved up over the past few weeks, going from being in a play-in game to a No. 10 seed a week ago. Now as they get set for these two huge games, they are on the rise as that No. 9 seed.

The other thing to note is that if UNC does continue to play better, they will get out of that Region 1 where Gonzaga is as well as a few other tough teams they have already played in Iowa and Texas.

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