ESPN's Joe Lunardi shares major update on teams fighting for No. 1 seeds in NCAA Tournament

With Selection Sunday just a day away, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi believes the four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament are locked in. Lunardi feels that Purdue, UConn, Houston and North Carolina will for sure be the No. 1 seeds when the tournament bracket is revealed Sunday evening.

UNC beat Pitt on Friday to advance to the ACC Championship game, while Tennessee lost to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament and Arizona lost to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

“We’ve got now the No. 1 seeds locked,” Joe Lunardi said on SportsCenter. “North Carolina cannot be caught from behind, even with a loss against NC State in the ACC Championship game, because everybody chasing them — Tennessee and Arizona — are also out and didn’t reach the title games of their respective tournaments. So Carolina is going to be No. 1 in the West.”

Going out West doesn’t sound like much of a reward for North Carolina at first glance as the final two rounds of the West region will be held in Los Angeles. However, as Lunardi pointed out, it’s better than the other option.

“While that may not sound great, it’s better than the alternative, which is No. 2 in the East, which would put them on the same path as UConn for a potential regional championship game in Boston,” Lunardi said. “And I think the Tar Heels would like LA a whole lot more.”

Armando Bacot reveals keys to strong defensive performance vs. Pitt in ACC Tournament

North Carolina got a huge win over Pitt on Friday, which seemingly locked the Tar Heels in to a No. 1 seed. After the game, UNC star Armando Bacot shared the key to the strong defensive performance against the Panthers.

“All year, I’ve just been taking pride in trying to be the best defensive big man in the country,” Bacot told ESPN’s Jess Sims. “And today, it’s always tough playing against them because they’ve got so many skilled guards, they’ve got bigs that can shoot. So today, we had to switch. After the first half, I was a little sloppy. In the second half, I wanted to take the challenge and thought I did a good job.”

Pitt led UNC 35-33 at the break. However, the Tar Heels locked in defensively and held the Panthers to only 30 points in the second half. That allowed North Carolina to rally for a 72-65 victory and take a big step towards earning a No. 1 seed and an ACC Tournament title.