Published Mar 17, 2019
Tar Heels Aren't Sweating One Seed Hysteria
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Andrew Jones  •  TarHeelIllustrated
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CHARLOTTE – The debate over what teams should get the four No. 1 seeds when the NCAA Tournament field of 68 is unveiled has been more interesting than it usually is, and there are scenarios in which North Carolina finds itself on one of those coveted spots Sunday evening.

Typically, there might be debate over the final one seed spot going into the final weekend before Selection Sunday, but with seven teams making cases for top seeds and perhaps only Virginia having clearly locked one up entering this weekend, Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan State still had chances to move up, along with the Tar Heels.

But, if anyone thinks the Tar Heels are fixated on what the NCAA Selection Committee thinks of them, they aren’t letting on about it.

“We’re not worried about it,” senior Luke Maye said, following UNC’s loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday night. “But I think the way we’ve played, the way we’ve come on here lately, they’re (Duke) a great team, only lost five games, have a lot of great players, those were two great teams, and in my opinion two of the best teams in the country, and I think we should see that moving forward.”

Translation: Just bring it on.

The Heels are used to being overlooked this year, and the vibe in the locker room Friday night was that may well happen again, but it really didn’t matter. This team has done a remarkable job of channeling fuel-infusing disrespect to its own benefit, and ending up a 2 seed somewhere will just fall in line with how things have gone over the last two months. In that span, the Tar Heels have lost just twice, narrowly at home to Virginia on a night the game flipped when Cam Johnson left late with an injury and by a point versus Duke here Friday.

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Those who choose to pay attention to ESPN bracket “master” Joe Lunardi saw where he had the Heels as a one seed before Friday’s game but dropped them to a two following the defeat. This is the same person who kept Gonzaga on the top line after it was clobbered by welterweight St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.

Lunardi basically said that if the Zags were a top-four team before the loss they still were afterward. So, disregard Gonzaga’s 4-3 mark in Quad 1 games as opposed to UNC’s 11-6 mark in such contests, because Lunardi has. Well, not really, because the selection committee likely won't.

What really matters is that Lunardi, Jerry Palm and Joe Schmoe have no say in how things shape up, and now that they’re waiting, neither will the Tar Heels.

Duke secured a one seed with Saturday night's ACC title win over Florida State and if Tennessee wins the SEC Tournament championship it must be seriously considered. Without diving into all of the numbers, the point is that Carolina isn’t all that concerned.

“I really never get into that kind of thing, I really don't,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said, when asked about the top seed chatter. “I can't tell you right now more than one location for the first rounds next week. I really just try to coach my team today to play the best that we possibly could today.”

At the very worst, the Tar Heels likely will be the top two seed, which would pit them with the lowest one seed that isn’t from the ACC, which would probably mean a spot in the West Region paired with Gonzaga or somewhere else paired with Tennessee.

The Heels will find out Sunday evening, and until then really aren’t sweating it.


Luke Maye Postgame Interview From Friday

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