North Carolina begins play in the ACC Tournament on Tuesday night as the bottom seed for the first time in program history.

The Tar Heels (13-18 overall, 6-14 ACC), open up against Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. If the Heels win they will face No. 6 seed Syracuse on Wednesday night and awaiting the winner from that trio is third-seed Louisville.

THI’s staff was asked to offer predictions on how Carolina will do in the tournament this week. The only way the Tar Heels will play in the postseason is if they win the championship, which means claiming five wins in as many days.

So, here are our predictions:

Prediction: Lose ACC Quarterfinal game

How It Will Happen: Carolina will play well early in the tournament and pickup wins over Virginia Tech and Syracuse. The quarterfinals against Louisville is where things will get tough for the Tar Heels who will be playing their third game in three days. Despite battling the whole game this will be the end of the road for Carolina.

Heels' MVP: Garrison Brooks has battled all season and the ACC Tournament will be no different as he finishes the tournament averaging a double-double in points and rebounds to prove he is one of the ACC's best big men.

Prediction: Lose in ACC first round

How it Will Happen: The Tar Heels 2019-20 season comes to an end against a pesky Hokie team. This team has been up-and-down all season and I just don’t see them winning.

Heels’ MVP: Garrison Brooks has had an all-ACC type season but finishing so bad in the conference hurts his chances.

Prediction: Lose in the quarterfinals.

How It Will Happen: The Tar Heels win their opening two games, first defeating Virginia Tech on Tuesday and then Syracuse on Wednesday. Things get tough on Thursday, though, as UNC will have to face a Louisville team in the quarterfinals that will be playing its first game of the tournament. This is where the journey ends for this team, as I see the Cardinals handling the fatigued Heels relatively handedly.

Heels' MVP: Garrison Brooks. How can you not go with Brooks here? He’s playing the best basketball of his career and is one of the top bigs in the country right now. Expect more big games out of him this week.

Prediction: UNC will lose in the ACC Quarterfinals.

How it will happen: The Tar Heels will come to Greensboro with nothing to lose and play loose and take it one game at a time, by defeating Virginia Tech and Syracuse respectively before falling short against Louisville.

Heels’ MVP: Cole Anthony has a chance to put the team on his back and try and salvage the season this week, I see him attempting to put some magic together alongside Garrison Brooks.

Prediction: Lose in the quarterfinals.

How it will happen: Carolina will be on all cylinders in defeating Virginia Tech in the opener and then will shoot its way past Syracuse, as it did in the Carrier Dome less than two weeks ago. But a short bench will take its toll on Roy Williams’ team will fall to a Louisville team that just may win the title in Greensboro.

Heels’ MVP: Garrison Brooks has been outstanding this season, especially over the last month, but for the Heels to advance past even one game, they need Cole Anthony to play at a high level and he will come through scoring and passing Carolina into Thursday’s action.