Notre Dame And UNC Will Pour In Buckets

Notre Dame vs. North Carolina, 2:30 ET

I know that everything is sponsored now (there are ads everywhere, even in this article) but some of these Conference Tournament's taking names of businesses just is wild to me. It can't just be the ACC Tournament, it has to be the T. Rowe Price ACC Tournament. I get it, the business gets exposure, the conference gets money, but it just seems unnecessary. Maybe I'm being a grumpy old man yelling about kids playing on my lawn. Either way, I'm going to lock in and focus on the game between Notre Dame and North Carolina. 

Notre Dame enters into this competition with a rough 15-17 record for the season. They obviously struggled for the majority of the season, but at least they were somewhat competitive overall. Within ACC games, the team has gone just 8-12. As you would expect from a .500 team, they are scoring about the exact same as they are allowing. They opened the ACC Tournament with a victory over Pitt, which isn't a great team, but it was still a nice win. It was a close competition though as they took the win with just one point. It was a kind of crappy way to lose the game for Pittsburgh, though. With one second left, Markus Burton, Notre Dame's leading scorer missed a jumper, Tae Davis got an offensive rebound and was fouled. He made the first free throw then missed the second and the game was over. Just kind of a crummy way to lose a game. Now they have to get past that emotional victory and take on a motivated North Carolina squad. 

Mar 11, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Markus Burton (3) handles the ball defended by Pittsburgh Panthers guard Jaland Lowe (15) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Tar Heels have had one of the more interesting seasons in college basketball. For most of the year, they were kind of average. There are/were a lot of reports that they would likely be left out the NCAA Tournament. I'd like to take just a second to make a case for them. The complaint in college football is they don't always get the best teams in the playoffs. With the Tournament, we can get 68 teams in it. You're telling me there are 67 teams better than North Carolina in the country? I just don't see it. I get it, a lot of spots are taken up because teams win their conference. However, North Carolina finished with a 20-12 record. They were six games back of Duke but technically tied for 3rd in the conference. They don't really have a signature win, which is a criticism of the team. But, they have been competitive against almost every ranked team that they've played. They lost by three at Kansas in the second game of the season, they lost by 13 to Auburn, three to Michigan State, and they beat UCLA when the Bruins were ranked. Sure, they lost by double digits to Auburn, Duke and Clemson, but it wasn't a brutal season. If they lose here, I could see a justification for them not making the tournament. 

I don't see North Carolina losing here though. In fact, I think they win this game by 10 or more points. The only concern that I see is the first time they played, at Notre Dame, North Carolina only escaped with a one point win. A win is a win, but they probably should've handled them a bit easier. The spread on the game is already up to 10.5 and even though I think they win by double digits, I'm not overly confident in that side. I do lean toward Notre Dame. I think a better bet is to take the over 145.5. Notre Dame struggled to score yesterday, but I expect North Carolina to push the pace and they aren't a great defensive team. Notre Dame has the familiarity of the arena on their side as well. Back the over 145.5.