Unless they go all the way and win the 2023 ACC tournament, the North Carolina Tar Heels' chances of being invited to the Big Dance will come down to what the committee thinks on Selection Sunday of North Carolina basketball's body of work in the 2022-23 college basketball season.
North Carolina basketball certainly has plenty of work left to do in order o put together a much more convincing case why the Tar Heels deserve to be an at-large bid team in this year's March Madness. However, apart from their clear need to win quality games, the actual work ahead of the Tar Heels isn't a sure thing because North Carolina's opportunity to get those victories depends entirely on whether they win their next game or not.
The Tar Heels finished ACC play seventh in the conference with 11 wins against nine losses, which means that they have a first-round bye in the league tourney. At the moment, North Carolina doesn't have a definite opponent in the second round, but that will be either the Boston College Eagles or the Louisville Cardinals — two programs they defeated back in the regular season. Obviously, The Tar Heels CAN NOT AFFORD to lose to a second-round game played at a neutral site against a team that just doesn't have enough juice in its resume. A loss to the Eagles or the Cardinals would be North Carolina's first Quadrant 4 loss of the season. (Boston College is 166th in the NET rankings, while Louisville is 311th.)
So, with all that being said, here are three items that will help the Tar Heels improve their chances of getting a spot in the 2023 NCAA tournament
3. Take out the Hoos
Tackling either Louisville or Boston College should be a very manageable task for the Tar Heels. After all, North Carolina basketball blasted the Cardinals on Jan. 14 on the road, 80-59, before taking down the Eagles on Jan. 17 in Chapel Hill, 72-64. What's a harder prospect for North Carolina basketball is overcoming the Cavaliers in the potential quarterfinals showdown on Thursday. The second-seeded Hoos will come into that contest with a fresher set of legs, as they don't have to play in the first two rounds of the ACC tournament.
All that being said, scaling Mt. Virginia is something the Tar Heels have already done this season. Sure, they lost to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville last January to the tune of a 65-58 score, but the Tar Heels got back at the Hoos on Feb. 25 when they took care of business at Chapel Hill in a 71-63 win against Tony Bennett's squad.
A win against Virginia could actually end up being enough to win the hearts of the committee on Selection Sunday.
2. North Carolina basketball has to be better from deep
The Tar Heels aren't exactly a bunch of snipers from behind the arc. As a team, they are not much of a 3-point threat. In fact, North Carolina basketball finished the regular season just 15th in the ACC with a 30.2 percent success rate on its 3-pointers. The Tar Heels are unlikely going to turn into a sensational 3-point shooting team overnight, but if it could catch even just a little more fire from downtown in the tournament, that could go a long way in helping North Carolina basketball achieve its goal of winning the ACC title.
When the Tar Heels gave their March Madness dreams this season a massive shot in the arm with back-to-back wins over the Cavaliers and the Florida State Seminoles late in ACC play, they sank a total of 24 3-pointers on 51 attempts. That was also before they stumbled in the regular-season finale loss to the Duke Blue Devils at home where North Carolina also went just 5-for-23 from the 3-point region.
1. Hope for an easier path to the ACC title
As long as they are alive in the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels have complete control of their fate. Speaking of which, they can also still hope that they'll face lighter opponents (at least on paper) on their way to the top of the tourney. Assuming that the Tar Heels successfully hurdle Virginia in the quarterfinal round, they could face any of the Clemson Tigers, NC State Wolfpack, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the semifinals. Perhaps the best-case scenario here for North Carolina is for the lower seeds to go on a mini-Cinderella run, though, it needs to get mentioned that the Tar Heels went 1-1 in the regular season against the Wolfpack and 0-1 versus Virginia Tech.
Let's say that North Carolina basketball somehow finds its way to the ACC tournament championship game, the Tar Heels are looking at the potential of meeting Duke, Miami Hurricanes, or the Pittsburgh Panthers. But a Cinderella run by Syracuse, Florida State, or even Georgia Tech would be a welcome development for North Carolina as well.
Follow Us
Subscribe