Bracketology 2023: Arizona State, North Carolina and Gonzaga among biggest winners

The latest batch of “Bracketology Winners” features several bubble teams that were able to get massive victories in the limited opportunities there are left in the regular season. It’s still not too late for some teams but for those currently on the wrong side of the bubble, you better find a way to improve your resume quickly.

These are the following 10 programs that did well this past week when it comes to their respective standings for the NCAA Tournament.

North Carolina Tar Heels

The number that has been sticking with the Tar Heels is “0”, which was the number of Quad 1 wins for them this entire season entering the week at 0-9. They had two “must-win” games this past week in Notre Dame on the road and at home against Virginia.

Things nearly ended for UNC before they began, trailing Notre Dame on the road late in the second half, which would’ve ended up as a Quad 4 loss. But they ultimately were able to survive the road game with a 63-59 win, led by double-doubles from Pete Nance and Armando Bacot.

But the reason why the Tar Heels are on this list is because of the massive win over Virginia, a game in which they led wire-to-wire with a double-digit lead throughout. The final score is closer than what the game really was, 71-63. Nance led all scorers with 22 points, along with 16 points and 10 rebounds from RJ Davis.

It’s a Quad 1 win for UNC and should be a nice boost to the overall metrics. To be clear, this isn’t going to keep them in the field, more work needs to be done for its resume. They’ll have another opportunity next weekend at home against Duke but have to be careful with Florida State on the road first.