Joe Lunardi evaluates chances to make the NCAA Tournament for Kentucky, North Carolina

Already halfway into the month of February chances to make the NCAA Tournament are slipping for a few teams and even some traditional national title contenders aren’t immune.

Kentucky and North Carolina are two of the team’s fighting to stay on the right end of the bubble.

“It’s almost inconceivable, really, that both Carolina and Kentucky only have a single Quad 1 win,” ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said on ESPN’s College GameDay program on Saturday. “And in Carolina’s case, it’s over a team that came into the week with a losing record: Ohio State, which is now 11-13. Carolina’s in trouble because they just don’t have the resume. What they do have, Rece, is a pretty favorable schedule down the stretch, which is more than you can say for Kentucky.”

The view that either of these teams is running out of time to build a compelling enough resume has met some pushback in certain corners.

After all, fans are diehard supporters and want to believe their team is doing just fine.

“Now I’m getting all kinds of notices about, ‘Well, this is where Carolina was last year when they went on their run,'” Lunardi said. “No. The Tar Heels had turned the corner by this point.

“And the year that Kentucky went to the national championship game as an eight seed? Well they didn’t lose at home to South Carolina, sub-250 (in the NET rankings). So I think both of these teams could be on the outside looking in a month from now.”

Should that come to pass, college basketball fans could be deprived of seeing a couple of the top players in the country as their chances to make the NCAA Tournament dwindle.

“It’s just inconceivable to me that Armando Bacot or, and maybe it’s and, Oscar Tshiebwe could miss the tournament,” Lunardi said with a seeming look of dismay.