There’s no sports tournament more chaotic, exciting and unpredictable than March Madness.
And there’s no American sport with a wider field of teams than March Madness’ 68 — making things all the more interesting. Buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories, and classic heavy-weight battles happen every year during March and early April. We never know who will win March Madness, but we do know we’re in for a treat every time we tune in.
Predicting brackets and seedlines in November is never an indication of the real deal in March — but that doesn’t make it any less fun. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released another one of his weekly March Madness Bracketology predictions on Tuesday morning. He had the UNC basketball program sitting as the No. 4 seed in the East Region.
The Tar Heels are loaded with talent, and this is one of the fastest, most athletic UNC teams in recent memory. The Tar Heels went into Allen Fieldhouse, erased a 20-point deficit versus the No. 1 team in one of the most hostile environments, and in their most recent game beat American University 107-55. That’s a team deserving of a No. 3 seed, or higher, in any March Madness snapshots today.
Lunardi has North Carolina on the same seedline as Arizona, who lost by 15 to an unranked (at the time of the game) Wisconsin team.
He also has Baylor ahead of the Tar Heels as a No. 3 seed. Baylor has talent, returning double-digit scorers in Jayden Nunn and Langston Love, adding key transfer portal pieces in Norchad Omier and Jeremy Roach, and bringing in talented freshmen VJ Edgecombe and Robert Wright III. But this Baylor team got blown out by 38 to Gonzaga, and the Bears are yet to fully pass the eye test.
Speaking of the teams in the Tar Heels' region... OOF! UConn claimed the top seed in the region while Alabama and Houston are seeded No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. With the Tar Heels claiming the fourth spot, that is a very difficult bracket for anyone to get through.
The bottom line is: college basketball is a guard-run league, and the Tar Heels have the best guard group in the country. RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau, Seth Trimble and Ian Jackson might go down as a historic UNC backcourt. They will give the Tar Heels a chance to win any given game.
In addition, the Tar Heels’ frontcourt has surpassed all expectations. Jae’Lyn Withers has been an X-factor at the four, averaging a near double-double. Jalen Washington has taken a junior-year leap, coming off a career-high 18 points.
Obviously, these March Madness predictions don’t hold any weight and the seeds will shake up before the Big Dance. But one thing’s for sure, the Tar Heels are off to a strong start this season, and UNC looks built for March.