Schematically, I don’t mind this matchup for North Carolina. The Heels are battle-tested, while the Sooners aren’t ready for a bump in competition in a brutal environment. The Tar Heels went 3-3 during this stretch, but two losses came by a combined six points – including an overtime loss to Villanova – while the three wins came by a combined 31 points.
Per Team Rankings, they’ve played the nation’s 11th-toughest schedule. The Heels have played six consecutive games against KenPom top-100 opponents, including four Quad 1. Speaking of strength of schedule, it’s hard to stack up with the Heels in that regard. Meanwhile, Wednesday night presents an excellent buy-low opportunity for North Carolina, looking to bounce back off consecutive losses against Connecticut and Kentucky.
It’s time for Oklahoma to lose a game, and this is the one. While this doesn’t qualify as one, it’ll be the most hostile environment they’ve played in. They haven’t played a single true road game yet. Their best win is a two-point neutral-court victory over USC, and they needed a 10-for-22 (45.5%) 3-point shooting performance to pull it off. They haven’t played a single KenPom top-40 or Quad 1 opponent. The Sooners are undefeated at 10-0 but haven’t played a top-tier opponent yet.
