CHAPEL HILL – Does North Carolina need to win four games in four nights at the ACC Tournament this week in order to get a spot in the NCAA Tournament?

Some of the Tar Heels believe so.

A 62-57 loss to Duke at the Smith Center on Saturday night put UNC in a very difficult spot. At 19-12 overall, 11-9 in the ACC, and a 1-9 record in Quad 1 games, it appears the only scenario that would work in the Heels’ favor would be to cut down the nets at the Greensboro Coliseum.

ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi currently has the Heels as the “Next Four Out” and the second club in that four-team cluster, meaning five teams on the wrong side of the bubble are actually ahead of Hubert Davis’ team.

So, Carolina has plenty of work to do.

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“We know what’s at stake,” junior point guard RJ Davis said. “We know what’s being said as far as tournament wise. But we can’t focus on that too much. We just have to take it game by game and day by day going into next week with a clear mindset, clear head.”

A clear head going into the league’s signature event will take some time. The Heels led Duke with 4:20 remaining Saturday night, but were outscored 8-2 to close the game. A win over the Blue Devils, and the Heels might only need to win a game, perhaps two, in Greensboro.

As of now, there is no other way to view what must be accomplished. Win four, period.

“Probably…,” forward Pete Nance said. “We can’t stop playing because we need a good week this coming week, we probably got to get four so we can’t keep our heads down, we have to stay together and keep playing.”

UNC is now rated No. 49 in the NET, and its lone Q1 win, at home over Virginia, surprisingly remained one after the Wahoos beat Louisville over the weekend. The crazy thing is for the Heels to notch another Q1 win, theoretically it will have to beat Virginia in the quarterfinals Thursday, if the Heels can take care of the winner of the Boston College-Louisville game Tuesday.

So, with UVA at No. 30, a Carolina win would knock the Hoos below 30, thus moving the home win over Tony Bennett’s team to Q2 game. The Heels would get a Q1 win for beating them on a neutral court.

If the Heels get past the Cavaliers, either Virginia Tech (N0. 69), Clemson (No. 61), or NC State (No. 41) would await in the ACC Semifinals. Only State would be a guaranteed Q1 game that night as well. So, it might not even be until the championship game Saturday night before the Heels get a true Q1 opportunity, and at that point, cutting down the nets would end the discussion.

“I don’t know how that works,” senior forward Armando Bacot said. “But that is my goal. Going and not winning the ACC championship will be a letdown for me.”

RJ Davis said the caution is to not get caught up winning four in four, but getting one and taking a step forward. He doesn’t pay much attention to bracket chatter because it doesn’t really matter to him. Win the next game is the sole mission now.

“I don’t really know too much about how many games we have to win. I just want to win. I don’t care,” Davis said. “I’m going to go out there and give it my all like I do every game, and that’s my mindset going forward.

“Just trying not to look too far ahead just taking it game by game and not look too far, that’s probably the best way to look at it right now."

One game at a time, four times next week. That’s Carolina’s mission, and the Tar Heels’ final life line of the season.