The North Carolina Tar Heels are climbing the bubble like some documentary mountaineering trek right now. While the schedule still set before Hubert Davis and UNC basketball isn't all that daunting, it's always presented an opportunity for this team to get onto the right side of things as it pertains to Bracketology. And thus far, the Heels are taking care of all of the business that they need to see March Madness.
On Monday night, just a couple of days after handling Virginia, it was more of the same for North Carolina as they kept Florida State at arm's length for the majority of the 40-minute affair and walked away with a 96-85 victory for their final game in February. That leaves just three more games on the schedule but everything is trending right for UNC in regards to their NCAA Tournament hopes.
After entering last weekend firmly in the Next Four Out territory, ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has bumped the Tar Heels up to the first team among the First Four Out, essentially labeling North Carolina as the 69th team in the proverbial rankings on Selection Sunday. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports isn't far behind with UNC as the second among the First Four Out.
With the Heels having just a home tilt against lowly Miami, a road game against ailing Virginia Tech and then the home regular-season finale against rival Duke, the writing is on the wall that UNC should now be considered more likely than not to make the NCAA Tournament barring an epic collapse in the ACC Tournament.
That's great news for anyone in Chapel Hill hoping for to watch postseason basketball. When it comes to Hubert Davis, though, it complicates things immensely.
UNC bracketology boost makes Hubert Davis decision that much more complicated
Davis has been under fire for much of this season and deservedly so. North Carolina came into the season ranked as an easy Top 10 team in the country and have since kept falling more solidly onto the bubble to where we're this point. Given the tradition of excellence in Chapel Hill even since Dean Smith retired, Davis hasn't been living up to the standard after taking over for Roy Williams.
Having said that, missing the NCAA Tournament would've been the cleanest way to sell that and cut ties with one of North Carolina's own in Davis. The former player aspect seems great until tough decisions have to be made, so it's only natural for the administration to look for the right kinds of excuses. Missing the tournament is the most obvious.
With the way that UNC basketball is currently trending in that regard, though, that makes the decision more uncomfortable. Even if the Tar Heels make it to March Madness and Davis orchestrates another run, is that really good enough? Should they be consistently relying on lower seeds making a run in the tournament? That doesn't seem like it's a good long-term vision for the program. And yet, it's also hard to justify firing a homegrown coach like Davis when that's happening.
But further complicating the matter is that North Carolina and Davis quietly agreed to a contract extension in December, as reported by Brian Murphy of WRAL on Tuesday.
NEW: Men's basketball coach Hubert Davis agreed to contract extension with North Carolina over the summer. Was signed in December. New deal extends to 2030.
— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) February 25, 2025
That won't change the sentiment among many fans, but it only adds to the complicated factors that will be around the Tar Heels going into the postseason, whatever UNC's fate might be.