The 2022-23 college basketball season won’t tip off for a few more months but already there’s excitement in Chapel Hill with the return of four of five starters from last year’s squad.
With UNC opting to “run it back”, they also added a key transfer when Northwestern’s Peter Nance committed to the program last month. The addition of Nance gives the Tar Heels another scorer to boost their lineup for the upcoming season.
But where do the Tar Heels stand in terms of comparisons nationally?
Well, they are the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Coast Conference and eventually nationally for some publications.
247Sports just released their updated ACC basketball preseason power rankings and sitting right at the top of the list are the Tar Heels, earning the No. 1 spot. UNC beat out Duke, Florida State, Miami and Virginia for the top spot. Here is what the site said about the Tar Heels in the rankings:
The story of the North Carolina offseason should be that the Tar Heels’ additions could help them get way better. Yes, four starters returned, including potential Player of the Year candidate Armando Bacot, but the addition of Northwestern big man Pete Nance and freshman guard Seth Trimble can’t be swept under the rug. Nance should help North Carolina’s front line be elite on both ends, and Trimble might be good enough to force Hubert Davis to have an uncomfortable conversation if Love, Davis or Black underwhelm. North Carolina has a ton of returning talent, but the newcomers could help the Tar Heels be scary good. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for good measure, and UNC has everything you need to cut down the nets.
There will be a lot of hype around this UNC team fresh off that appearance in the title game a year ago and they are going to be tested early. How they handle those tests will tell us a lot early on in Hubert Davis’ second season.
But for now, there’s good reason to believe UNC can win it all come next April.
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