Wednesday UNC clobbered Notre Dame 76-56. The win moved Heels 21-12 (13-7). The victory itself doesn’t put UNC into the Big Dance. Notre Dame finished the season 15-17 (8-12), but losing would have been devastating for the Heels. They didn’t lose and they looked impressive in wiping out the Irish.
UNC’s resume is being questioned due to 1-11 Q1 record. That’s fair. It is certainly a black eye on the Heel’s resume, but look closer and their resume is starting to convince me they have a pretty good shot to make the NCAAs provided they beat Wake Forest Thursday.
Wake Forest would be Q2 win for the Heels bringing them to 22-12 with a 9-2 record since February. They would also be 21-1 against the Q2-Q4 opponents. That’s a comparable record against most of the top 30 in the NET, and better than some including NCAA locks like Michigan (13-2) UCLA (13-2), Illinois (12-2), and Iowa State (15-2). The Heels are also 10-9 in road/neutral games, a top 40 NET, and a top 20 OOC strength of schedule.
In addition, fellow bubble team Ohio State lost to Iowa in their opening round of the Big 10 tournament, and Texas while they did beat Vanderbilt will take on their 15th loss at some point if they don’t win the SEC tournament. Couple that with a 12-4 Q2-Q4 record, that cancels their better Q1 record of 6-10. Oh yes the Longhorn’s OOC record is ranked 352 while the Heel’s ranked 3 according to https://www.warrennolan.com/.
Of course, if UNC beats Wake Forest and Duke, they leave no doubt, but if they get through Wake Forest they might be last 4 in.
I think they are making it.
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