UNC Basketball: Tar Heels going wrong direction in updated Bracketology

A blowout loss to Kentucky has the UNC basketball program going the wrong direction in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket.

The Tar Heels were riding a five-game win streak and improving their position in ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s weekly rankings, but that quickly changed following a game against the Kentucky Wildcats at the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas. It was there that Hubert Davis’ squad got utterly embarrassed from start to finish, dropping their first game in nearly a month by 29 points.

It didn’t matter that they won their game three days later against Appalachian State by 20 points, they were already headed in the wrong direction as it relates to their projected positioning in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Now, after beginning the season on the 7-line, the Tar Heels are currently an 8-seed in the West Region. That puts them in line for a matchup with the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round, assuming they’d get by the ninth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the Round of 64.

Other 8-seeds in the field include BYU, Loyola-Chicago, and Michigan, who the Tar Heels beat in impressive fashion back on December 1. But how good are the Wolverines? They’ve lost to every good team they’ve played, and beaten up on ones you’d expect them to. I’m simply not sure how much a victory over the then-24th-ranked Wolverines will help the Tar Heels when March rolls around.

On the other hand, they do have upcoming opportunities to improve their seeding in the Big Dance. Although the ACC is as down I can remember it being since I started watching college basketball some 30 years ago, there are still resume-building wins on the schedule. A pair of games against No. 2 Duke are obviously the big ones, but a home-and-home with Virginia Tech couldn’t hurt and neither will just about any conference road game.

Of course, the Tar Heels don’t need to focus on NCAA Tournament seeding, particularly when it’s nearly three months away. We can ponder and worry and write about that until our hearts are content. The Tar Heels need to do just one thing: win.

Keeping It Heel will have weekly updates throughout the season on where the Tar Heels stand in Bracketology projections. Check back for all the latest on that and everything on the UNC basketball program.