Even with their recent West Coast slide, the North Carolina Tar Heels are still in a good spot to finish their season with a positive bang.
UNC (14-4, 2-3 ACC) breezed its way through non-conference play, only losing to Michigan State, before dropping three of its first five ACC games. North Carolina still has a dangerous frontcourt in Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, but backcourt production needs to catch up.
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As the Tar Heels look for a much-needed bounce-back, they are still included in postseason projections. In Andy Katz’ first NCAA Tournament bracket prediction of the 2025-26 college basketball season, UNC takes a six seed in the South Region.
North Carolina is projected to face 11-seed Miami (Ohio), which entered Tuesday a perfect 19-0. The RedHawks provide a tough challenge, even though they play in a Group of Five conference with no Top-25 schools.
The Tar Heels have what should be an easier opponent in Notre Dame coming up Wednesday night, but you can say the same thing about Wake Forest, which nearly won via a January 10 upset in Chapel Hill.
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UNC travels to Charlottesville on Saturday, facing a thriving Virginia Cavaliers program in Year One under head coach Ryan Odom. North Carolina then travels to Georgia Tech next week, before finally returning home to host Syracuse on February 2.
Will the Tar Heels fix their glaring issues and respond with a dominant, regular season finish? Or will UNC limp into the NCAA Tournament again, forcing more questions than answers about its future?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Andy Katz tabs UNC basketball a 6-seed in first NCAAT Bracketology