Tomorrow marks one month from Selection Sunday, and this year, it doesn’t look like Carolina will be sweating it out to see if they made the field or not. Today, the NCAA Tournament committee unveiled the top 16 seeds for this year’s tournament, giving us an early look at what the field could look like in March.
At the end of January, Carolina had played itself into the conversation of being a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but a 2-3 stretch had quieted down that conversation. That was confirmed during the bracket preview, as Carolina earned a #2 seed, in the East Region, with UConn being their #1 seed in their bracket. With that in mind, the Tar Heels were the first #2 seed in the field, meaning the committee views them as the fifth-best team in college basketball. It also means that with a strong finish to the regular season, and a good showing in the NCAA Tournament, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Carolina ultimately ends up on the one-line come Selection Sunday.
Carolina’s projected reason as of today looks like this; defending national champion UConn as the one, Iowa State, a team that very well could win the Big 12 as the the three seed, and Wisconsin, the team that beat UNC in the NCAA Tournament back in 2021, and retired Roy Williams, as the four seed. Many people in the college basketball community expected to see Iowa State on the two line in today’s bracket reveal. Still, even with wins over Kansas and Houston, their lack of quality wins in the non-conference is how they ended up as a three seed.
The Tar Heels played UConn earlier this season, a UConn win over Carolina in Madison Square Garden, but that was before the Tar Heels went on a lengthy winning streak, that vaulted them to the top of the AP Poll.
There is still a lot of basketball to be played, and a lot can and will change before we get the eventual bracket four weekends from now. For this group though, it is a sign that their hard work is being noticed, and they’ve put themselves in a position to earn a high seed and set themselves up for a long NCAA Tournament run next month.
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