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NCAA Basketball: NET Rankings, UNC, and Oral Roberts among key storylines

By Bryan Mauro

Nov 14, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Oral Roberts Golden Eagles guard Issac McBride (10) drives to the basket past Houston Cougars guard Marcus Sasser (0) during the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Oral Roberts Golden Eagles guard Issac McBride (10) drives to the basket past Houston Cougars guard Marcus Sasser (0) during the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports /
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NCAA Basketball North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Basketball North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /

North Carolina has to figure it out, are they truly in danger of missing the NCAA tournament?

Rinse and Repeat for North Carolina.  They were in this exact same position a season ago, got hot in February, and found their way into the NCAA tournament as a 9 seed.  Once the Tar Heels found their way into the tournament we all know how the rest of the story went.  North Carolina went on to play the best basketball of their season last March and was 40 minutes away from the National Championship.  That performance along with most of their roster returning to Chapel Hill led to North Carolina heading into the season as the number 1 team.

The Tar Heels have yet to play up to the expectations we all placed on them and are in real danger of potentially missing the NCAA tournament if they do not start playing better.  North Carolina only has 1 quad 1 win currently and it was against another team in Ohio State, who also likely will not make the tournament.  North Carolina has 4 quad 1 games left on their schedule and they are going to likely need to win three of those to feel safe on Selection Sunday.  The resume and the predictive metrics do not favor the Tar Heels right now.

North Carolina doesnt seem to have the best chemistry, their guards are not playing well with each other right now.  There are a lot of rumors out there as to why, but it is honestly likely just some struggles. Neither RJ Davis nor Caleb Love are taking great shots, and both are trying to do too much.  When North Carolina was at their best last year those two let the game come to them and were able to dominate and overwhelm defenses with their three-point shooting and when they were able to dump the ball off to Armando Bacot in the post the Tar Heels were almost unstoppable.

If they get back to that they can make that magical run again.  The team is still talented, and did deserve their top ranking.  I am going to go out on a limb and say that North Carolina finds themselves in the tournament likely as a 7 or 8 seed.

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