Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Lunardi no longer has Tar Heels on bubble

By Nick Delahanty

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 28: R.J. Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels hugs teammates Leaky Black #1 and Brady Manek #45 after their game against the Syracuse Orange at the Dean E. Smith Center on February 28, 2022 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 88-79 in overtime. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 28: R.J. Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels hugs teammates Leaky Black #1 and Brady Manek #45 after their game against the Syracuse Orange at the Dean E. Smith Center on February 28, 2022 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 88-79 in overtime. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi believes the UNC basketball has moved up out of the “on the bubble” discussion for the NCAA Tournament.

The UNC basketball program is well-aware of what they need to do in order to make the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Win. Win. Win.

It’s simple: the more the Tar Heels win games, the better off they will be once the official bracket is released. Fortunately, North Carolina has now won four straight, including a thrilling overtime victory against Syracuse, to help them improve their stock.

The Tar Heels do have one more regular season challenge, as they’ll travel to Durham for another showdown with the rival Duke Blue Devils. With the ACC Tournament to follow, Hubert Davis and his team have an opportunity to showcase why they belong in the big dance.

Since analysts have been releasing their versions of bracketology, the UNC basketball program has widely been considered a “bubble team.” There have been instances where their stock has improved, and other times (cough, after the Pittsburgh loss) where they appeared to be on the outside looking in.

But for the time being their stock has improved, as evidenced by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket, which moved the Tar Heels up the seed line and off of the bubble.

On Tuesday morning, Lunardi released his updated rankings, in which North Carolina is no longer listed among the last four teams in the tournament or the “last four byes,” two places where they’ve most commonly been seen over the past couple of months. He projects the Tar Heels as a 10-seed in the Midwest Region, which would match them up with No. 7 seed Iowa State Cyclones in the Round of 64 in Indianapolis.

Of course, this can and likely will change multiple times before Selection Sunday rolls around. Even though it will change, it’s good to see that the Tar Heels are trending toward a more comfortable position heading into their final stretch of the regular season and conference tournament play.

Next. Tar Heels finally on right side of bubble?. dark

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates regarding the UNC basketball program and their quest to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

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