NCAA Tournament March Madness

#26 North Carolina

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Projected seed: 3

North Carolina’s résumé is built around a few headline wins, a neutral-site setback, and a lot of routine blowouts, so the committee will view a squad that can beat quality opponents but has not been flawless. The Tar Heels’ signature wins over Kansas and a gritty road triumph at Kentucky, plus a neutral-court victory over St Bonaventure, show they can win in tough environments, while the neutral loss to Michigan State is the clear blemish that tempers the upside. Easy victories over the likes of Radford, NC Central and Central Arkansas don’t move the needle much, but the conference slate still hands them multiple chances to strengthen the case on the road and at neutral sites — trips to Virginia and NC State, the matchups with Duke and high-visibility games against Ohio State, SMU and West Coast opponents such as Stanford and California present the opportunities to turn good résumé items into great ones.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Cent Arkansas250W94-54
11/7Kansas18W87-74
11/11Radford274W89-74
11/14NC Central344W97-53
11/18Navy192W73-61
11/25(N)St Bonaventure115W85-70
11/27(N)Michigan St11L74-58
12/2@Kentucky19W67-64
12/7Georgetown8884%
12/13SC Upstate28098%
12/16ETSU11388%
12/20(N)Ohio St3655%
12/22East Carolina24498%
12/30Florida St9386%
1/3@SMU4249%
1/10Wake Forest5475%
1/14@Stanford8065%
1/17@California7059%
1/21Notre Dame6376%
1/24@Virginia2338%
1/31@Georgia Tech13879%
2/2Syracuse6577%
2/7Duke435%
2/10@Miami FL3845%
2/14Pittsburgh9486%
2/17@NC State3443%
2/21@Syracuse6557%
2/23Louisville1448%
2/28Virginia Tech7279%
3/3Clemson2160%
3/7@Duke417%