Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Latest Bracketology pits Tar Heels in same region as rival

By Zack Pearson

DURHAM, NC - NOVEMBER 04: (L-R) Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Assistant Coach Jon Scheyer of the Duke Blue Devils instruct their team against the Livingstone Blue Bears at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 4, 2014 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - NOVEMBER 04: (L-R) Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Assistant Coach Jon Scheyer of the Duke Blue Devils instruct their team against the Livingstone Blue Bears at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 4, 2014 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

We are halfway through the UNC basketball season as Hubert Davis and his team continue the push here in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Going into Saturday’s home game against Georgia Tech, UNC is 3-1 in conference play and is trying to keep pace with the leaders at the top.

Overall, UNC is 11-4 with losses to Purdue, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Notre Dame, all three at a natural site or on the road. The Tar Heels have taken care of business at home and look to continue that trend.

But with it being mid-January, teams are starting to make their pushes and the Bracketology continues to get updated.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest projections heading into a big weekend slate of games, predicting where teams stand in the field of 68.

For North Carolina, they haven’t moved in the recent update staying put as the 8th seed in the East Region. The Tar Heels matchup here is Colorado State, a team that is 12-1 and 1-1 in Quad 1 games with a NET ranking of 42.  But looking at that region, there’s also a familiar name.

The Duke Blue Devils.

Lunardi has Duke as the No. 2 seed in that East Region, which is interesting. We’ve never had a UNC and Duke matchup in the NCAA Tournament, although we’ve come close a few times. In fact, they have only been in the same region just one time, back in 2004 when the Tar Heels bowed out to Texas in the second round.

With how the selection committee makes the bracket, they like to avoid teams that meet in the regular season as early matchups. That’s especially the case when teams meet twice a year like they do with this rivalry. So will this happen? Probably not.

As for the rest of the region, Arizona is the top seed moving up from the latest projections while Villanova is No. 3, Michigan State No. 4, Tennessee No. 5 and Iowa State No. 6.

Obviously, this will continue to change but it’s always fun looking at mock brackets throughout the year.

dark. Next. UNC commit named to Midseason watch list

For more on the UNC basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

Home/UNC Basketball