Saturday night’s loss in the ACC Tournament Final to NC State may have been a difficult one to swallow, but the Tar Heels are now turning their attention to the ultimate goal of cutting down the nets in Phoenix as we sit here on Selection Sunday. They will find out their path at 6:00 PM tonight when the 2024 NCAA tournament bracket is officially revealed over on CBS. As we await the bracket’s release, here is a look at where the top bracket experts in the country have Carolina.
Joe Lunardi (ESPN): No. 1 Seed in the West, No. 4 overall seed
Despite the loss to NC State, Lunardi has the Tar Heels heading West as the final 1 seed. As expected, Arizona is the 2 seed in this projection, meaning that the Tar Heels could face 2022 Tar Heel tournament hero Caleb Love in the Elite Eight with a spot in the Final Four on the line. The 3 seed, Baylor, would be a challenge as well as they boast one of the best guard duos in the country this season. The 4 seed, Alabama, and 5 seed, BYU, are also very interesting as two of the best offensive teams in the country.
Mike DeCourcy (FOX Sports): No. 1 Seed in the West, No. 4 overall seed
DeCourcy, like Lunardi, didn’t see enough yesterday to drop the Tar Heels off the top line in West Region. DeCourcy has the exact same teams in the team in the 2 through 5 seeds, meaning they would have one of the tougher paths of the 1 seeds to get to the Final Four.
Brian Bennett (The Athletic): No. 1 Seed in the West, No. 4 overall seed
Bennett said after Friday night’s action that the Tar Heels had locked up the last 1 seed and he stuck with that in his Sunday morning bracket. Once again, Arizona is the 2 seed, but he sees Kansas, a familiar tournament foe, as the 3 seed that they may have to face. With the struggles that the Jayhawks have had this season and two of their biggest stars banged up, this might be a more favorable team for the Tar Heels to have in the bracket. Bennett has BYU and Alabama in the bracket, too, but he has the seed line swap for the two.
Lukas Harkin (Heat Check CBB): No. 1 Seed in the West, No. 4 overall seed
Harkin is another expert who had the Tar Heels as a 1 seed entering the day yesterday and has stuck with them as that top seed in the West. He has the same teams on the next four seed lines as Lunardi and DeCourcy, meaning he sees a tough path to the Final Four as well.
Bill Bender (Sporting News): No. 1 Seed in the West, No. 4 overall seed
Bender is another expert who has kept the Tar Heels on the top line in the West in his Sunday tournament field update. Bender does not lay out the full bracket like the other guys do, instead opting to just lay out who is one which seed lines.
Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): No. 2 Seed in the East, No. 5 overall seed
Palm is the one major bracketologist that has the Tar Heels dropping off of the one line after last night. He opts to go with Iowa State as his last 1 seed, meaning that Carolina would be heading to the East Region at the 2 seed. This would put them in the same bracket with the defending champion and likely No. 1 overall seed, Connecticut. The 3 seed would be Kentucky, a team like UConn that the Tar Heels would like to get some revenge on after their meeting earlier this year. Kansas is also in this region according to Palm as the 4 seed, meaning all eyes would be on this region if it was to go chalk.
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