North Carolina added to its already impressive NCAA Tournament resume with its 82-77 victory over former No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 18 Tar Heels have now beaten the last two NCAA champions in then-No. 3 Louisville (2013) and No. 11 Kentucky (2012), as well as then-No. 1 Michigan State.
Of course, they also lost to Belmont and at UAB.
“It’s another big win, although probably not as big as the other two because it’s Kentucky’s third loss,” CBSSports.com bracketologist Jerry Palm told SNY.tv.
“It’s still a big win but the Michigan State win and the Louisville win on the surface appear to be bigger.”
North Carolina also has two games remaining against No. 8 Duke and one against No. 2 Syracuse.
“They might add Duke [and Syracuse] to that list [of wins],” Palm pointed out.
Behind 32 points from Marcus Paige, Carolina beat Louisville Nov. 24 on a neutral court in Uncasville, Conn.
On Dec. 4, the Heels then won at No. 1 Michigan State, 79-65, behind a balanced effort led by Kennedy Meeks’ 15 points and 7 rebounds and J.P. Tokoto’s 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“They beat Michigan State in East Lansing, that’s the gold standard of their wins,” Palm said.
For now, the Louisville and Michigan State wins are more impressive than the Kentucky win — despite the history of the two programs.
“We’ll have to see how Kentucky ends up doing,” Palm said. “I’m much more comfortable saying that Michigan State and Louisville are going to contend for No. 2 seeds at this point than I am Kentucky.
“It’s still a good win.”
