North Carolina dropped another ranked loss on Tuesday against undefeated and No. 7-ranked Florida in a game many thought they should have won.
The Tar Heels have now fallen to 6-5 on the season and 0-4 against teams ranked inside the current AP Top 10. Their only quality win of the season came against No. 22-ranked Dayton in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
Other than that, they have simply just won games that would have been embarrassing to lose. Outside of ACC play, Hubert Davis and his team have just one more top-25 matchup on the season, and that’s on Saturday against No. 18-ranked UCLA — a game that could change the trajectory of the season.
Inside Carolina analyst Sherrell McMillan had this to say about Saturday’s contest with UCLA and the Tar Heels’ tournament chances.
The ACC is just not a good conference this year. What is the path to making the NCAA Tournament? They have to beat UCLA. There’s no way around that. The team knows about NET rankings. They know about KenPom. It makes it even more mysterious when you come out like that in a game you know could help save your season. If we’re being honest, do we really think, with how North Carolina is playing right now, that this season will result in anything of consequence? There’s nothing in particular that they’re really doing well right now. It’s going to take a big winning streak to get them into the Tournament.
North Carolina could still get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament via a championship in the ACC Tournament. However, for even the slight chance at an at-large bid from the committee, the Tar Heels desperately need a win on Saturday.
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