There is no question that the UNC basketball program has had its struggles this season. That has shown no more than being on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble for much of the last few weeks.
But on Saturday, the Tar Heels helped themselves more than any other team in the country. By securing a win over No. 6 Virginia, it gave the Heels their first quad one win of the season.
Overall, the Tar Heels went 2-0 on the week and may have turned the corner from the significant struggles this month.
According to NCAA College Basketball analyst Andy Katz, UNC was the top winner among bubble teams last week.
“The Tar Heels desperately needed to get a Quad 1 win and were running out of chances. But on Saturday, they grabbed their most important victory of the season by beating Virginia. The Tar Heels are now 1-8 in Quad 1 games. UNC also won at Notre Dame this past week (a necessary road win) after beating Clemson at home the previous week (another ACC team ahead of them). As of Sunday night, the Heels are No. 47 in the NET metric… An NCAA Tournament berth is hardly a lock. But getting the win over Virginia dramatically helps the cause and avoids the embarrassment of not being in the field after a preseason No. 1 ranking.”
On Sunday, the Tar Heels got more good news as Michigan moved closer to a potential quad one win for UNC after its win over Wisconsin.
Right now, North Carolina has just a 1-8 record against quad one opponents, one of the worst among the bubble teams.
The Tar Heels have just one quad one opponent remaining in the regular season, the season-finale against Duke.
But first, UNC travels to take on Florida State, a 9-20 team and a quad four opponent on Monday night.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.