Two Weeks To Go, Plenty Within Reach

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – With four games and two weeks left in the regular season before the ACC holds its annual tournament in Washington, D.C., North Carolina sits in an excellent position to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels’ win at Virginia on Saturday was their seventh Quad 1 win of the season, and NC State is just two spots in the NET from being an eighth Q1 victory. Only Purdue and Connecticut, with nine each, have more Quad 1 wins than the Heels.

Four regular season games, remain, as Miami, the Wolfpack, and Notre Dame visit the Smith Center before the Heels head over to Duke for the regular season finale. But as it stands, Carolina is positioned quite well.

The manner in which they won Saturday is a big part of that.

“I think we have our February mojo,” veteran guard Cormac Ryan said following his 18-point performance against the Wahoos. “And I think we’ll have a March mojo, too.”

UNC is No. 9 in the NET going into Sunday’s games, but as long as it’s in that range and doesn’t suffer any surprising setbacks until the ACC Tourney, Hubert Davis’ team has the inside track to open NCAA play in Charlotte, and then earn a No. 1 seed, likely in the West Region.

Arizona’s home loss to Washington State on Thursday means the Wildcats may not win the Pac-12 regular season title. They have the same number of Q1 wins as UNC, but three Q2 and Q3 losses combined, and Carolina has two.

What would significantly help UNC’s case for a top seed is winning at Duke in two weeks, something Arizona did in November. If it comes down to it, that could be a deciding factor to the selection committee.

Carolina is 33-2 in NCAA games in the Old North State, and four of its last five national championships started in the home state. And the 2017 club that won it all, began play in Greenville, SC, though it was originally slated for Greensboro, NC, but was moved by the NCAA due to the state’s bathroom laws at the time.

For now, opening in Charlotte and landing a one seed, likely in the West with UConn, Purdue, and Houston having the inside track in the East, Midwest, and South, respectively.

But the Heels aren’t satisfied. No breathing room, head coach Hubert Davis said Saturday.

“No, not at all,” Davis said, when asked if there is a measure of comfort being in sole possession of first place in the ACC. “I told them to celebrate this win because winning is hard and I want them to enjoy this moment. And I said as soon as we get back to the Smith Center and the bus goes right into the tunnel, now we focus on our preparation for a really good Miami team on Monday.

“Something that we've said throughout the entire year, there's more to be said and more to be done. And so we just have that type of mindset.”

Armando Bacot says the team wants to hang three banners, the first being an ACC regular season title.

It’s the noted state of mind that can carry the Heels to that and the other stated goals above.