Bracketology 2023: 8 biggest storylines during Championship Week
2. North Carolina may have to win the ACC Tournament
The UNC Tar Heels entered the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country, returning four starters from last year’s national-championship appearing squad and adding one of the top players from the transfer portal last season in Pete Nance from Northwestern.
It was supposed to work smoothly but it was clear early on, there were overrated. They had essentially the same kind of year as a Wake Forest or even Syracuse, winning all of the games against the bottom half of the ACC, while mostly losing to most of the top half. That includes a loss at home to Duke, which afterward Coach Hubert Davis said that he doesn’t think that they have to win all four games to get a bid.
#UNC's Hubert Davis: "I am not adopting the narrative that we have to win four games (in the ACC Tournament)."
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) March 5, 2023
The numbers say otherwise, as the Tar Heels are currently 1-9 against Quad 1 games and 7-12 overall against the top two tiers. The only thing that is keeping them on the bubble is the lack of a bad loss. But they now need to find ways to get big wins and that’ll be hard in what’s statically a weak ACC.
The path for North Carolina in the tournament includes taking on the winner of Boston College and Louisville, before dealing with Virginia. The Heels do have a home win over the Cavaliers so it’s possible but a win over them won’t be good enough; they’ll have to make it to at least the finals to have a shot. They might as well get the autobid once they’re there.