2025 NCAA Tournament: Which First Four team has the best chance to make a deep March Madness run?

Selection Sunday was full of surprises, arguably none bigger than North Carolina making the field. The Tar Heels own impressive metrics but an absolute eyesore of a Quad 1 record (1-12), the latest of those losses a heartbreaker to shorthanded Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

There are plenty of arguments for West Virginia (6-10 in Quad 1) or Indiana (wins over Michigan State and Purdue), but that’s life on the bubble. If you want to argue in favor of the Tar Heels, you can look at their 8-0 record in Quad 2 games, their close calls against the nation’s best and their strong finish to the season. 

It’s bracket time! Play for a Nissan Armada and Final Four® trips by joining our Men’s and Women’s Challenges.

With their current starting lineup — Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Drake Powell, Jae’Lyn Withers and Ven-Allen Lubin — they are 7-1 and a top-20 team nationally according to Bart Torvik, whose advanced stats site appeared on selection committee team sheets for the first time this year.