UNC Basketball: Tar Heels slip in NET rankings

This has been a very challenging college basketball season for teams as they battle through with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The UNC Basketball program has seen first-hand what can happen with more than five games postponed so far this season.

After their game at Boston College was postponed earlier in the week, the Tar Heels found a new opponent as they hosted Marquette on Wednesday in the Dean Dome. However, that plan to play a game instead of having a week off may have backfired.

UNC came out flat against Marquette on Wednesday and suffered a double-digit home loss here in late February. That’s uh, not good for their tournament chances as the Golden Eagles were a below .500 team qualifying for a Q3 game.

With the loss, UNC not only put a dent into their overall record by they saw their NET ranking fall down too. The Tar Heels tumbled 11 spots from No. 33 to No. 44 in the updated NCAA Net rankings released on Thursday.

Can Tar Heels finish strong?

The Tar Heels need to stack wins to improve their chances and with four games left including Marquette, going 2-2 probably would have been enough to get them in. However, now with the loss they need to go 2-1 in this final stretch against Florida State, Syracuse and Duke. That’s with the Seminoles and Blue Devils playing really good basketball down the stretch.

UNC is not in a great position here and it comes just days after they improved their NET ranking climbing 20 spots after beating Louisville. 

The good news is that UNC can improve that ranking again with a strong finish, having some opportunities against a Top 15 team in FSU and a surging Duke team. But they have to make the most of this opportunity and take care of business.

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