ESPN College GameDay crew debate whether North Carolina will make NCAA Tournament

It’s been an uneven season for North Carolina, but they’re on a bit of a run at the moment. Ahead of their showdown against Duke on Saturday, the ESPN College GameDay crew debated whether the Tar Heels’ resume is strong enough to be selected for the NCAA Tournament.

First, Jay Bilas took a crack at it. He believes a win over the Blue Devils would lock Hubert Davis‘ team in the dance, but either way they should be in. The six-game winning streak North Carolina is enjoying is enough evidence of that.

“They’re 1-10 in Quad-One. Granted, that doesn’t look good. But what does look good is out of that, six of those losses were the top 10 teams, and a number of those were on the road or neutral. So, they’ve played a tough schedule,” Bilas stated. “But what moves me towards [them making the NCAA Tournament] — if they beat Duke tonight, that’s it. They’re gonna be in. But what I would say is, if you look at how they played over their last six games, where they finally figured out their lineup.

“Hubert Davis said they’ve been consistently inconsistent throughout the first part of the year. They’ve been consistently consistent over the last six. That’s the Tar Heel team we expected to see throughout the course of the season. To me, that matters. I would say in.”

As for Jay Williams, he pushed back on the narrative that the Tar Heels are already a lock for the NCAA Tournament. He believes they’re going to need to make a bit of a run in the ACC Tournament, especially if they fall to their favored rivals in Chapel Hill tonight.

“I still think there’s work for them to do,” Williams proclaimed. “I think the beginning of the ACC Tournament, I think a lot of that matters. So, I would probably have them on the outside barely right now. But I mean, you beat a Clemson, you beat a Louisville, you take care of the business you’re supposed to and advance in the ACC Tournament — even if they do lose tonight, I think their probability is high that they will be in.”

Meanwhile, Seth Greenberg gravitates more towards Williams than Bilas. It’ll all come down to winning games for Davis and company, as the Tar Heels look to put together a strong week before Selection Sunday. That’s a must for them.

“If they lose tonight, they’ve got to be either Clemson or Louisville to be in, because they’ve got to get another win against the field,” Greenberg said. “We talk about the strength-of-schedule, and they played a great schedule. A lot of people can say they don’t have an opportunity to play that schedule. But they’ve also got to put themselves in position to win those games. They had a chance to win, but coming close doesn’t work. You’ve got to win games. Having said that, if they lose tonight and beat Clemson or Louisville, they will be in. If they lose tonight and don’t beat Clemson or Louisville, they will not be in.”

All told, the easiest way to gain some points with the committee for North Carolina would be to beat Duke. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, and it should be a hotly-contested game to close out the regular season in college basketball.

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