NCAA Bracketology: Where Tar Heels sit ahead of rivalry game at Duke?

Recent NCAA Bracketology projections have the Tar Heels in March’s tournament by a slim margin.

After a disappointing defeat against the Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday, The North Carolina Tar Heels are hanging on by a thread in Joe Lunardi’s latest NCAA Bracketology projections on ESPN.com.

The Tar Heels, now 11-6 on the season and 6-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, are currently an 11-seed in the resident bracketologist’s recent bracket update, and one of the last four team’s in the upcoming tournament set to receive a bye. That gives the Tar Heels a small margin for error as they enter the second week of February, just over a month ahead of the NCAA Selection Committee’s final decision on which 68 teams will be in the tourney this year.

North Carolina will face off with arch rival Duke on Saturday night in a game that could either bolster or diminish the tournament resumes of each team. Neither has a particularly strong argument to be in the tournament right now, and very few opportunities to better their resumes exist this season in a very weak ACC.

Along with the Tar Heels on the 11-line and set to enjoy a first round bye in the tournament are Connecticut, Indiana and LSU. The four programs have a combined record of 39-23 this season, and are just ahead of a quartette of teams that includes Richmond, Saint Louis, VCU and Utah State (first four teams out of the tournament).

The tournament’s current No. 1 seeds are Gonzaga and Baylor, who remain undefeated at 18-0 and 17-0, respectively, along with Alabama and Michigan. They’re followed by Illinois, Houston, Ohio State and Villanova on the 2-line. Texas, Iowa, Virginia and Wisconsin are 3-seeds, while Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas Tech are on the 4-line.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Tar Heels’ NCAA bracketology outlook as we move closer to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.