By R.L. Bynum
The path to North Carolina’s seventh NCAA men’s basketball title would take the Tar Heels from the Queen City to the City of Angels and, they hope, culminate in the Valley of the Sun.
The No. 5-ranked Tar Heels (27–7) are the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, to be played at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (home of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers and the NHL’s Kings). It’s the NCAA-high 18th time that UNC has been a No. 1 seed since seeding began in 1979, one season after missing the tournament.
Caleb Love’s No. 9-ranked Arizona team (25–8), which has lost two of its last four games, will be the No. 2 seed in the West, meaning the Wildcats and Tar Heels could play in the Elite Eight.
“I’m just really excited for the guys,” said Hubert Davis, the fourth UNC coach to lead his team to a No. 1 seed after Dean Smith (8 times), Bill Guthridge (once) and Roy Williams (8 times). “We’re a No. 1 seed because of the work this team has done this season. I’m a proud of how they have worked all season, how they’ve played, how they have prepared and how from the start of the season they have wanted to be a team.
“To be given an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament is a big deal,” Davis said. “I know the importance of being able to play close to home, so playing in Charlotte for potentially the first two rounds and being closer to our fans is a big deal for us, but it’s just fun coming into the tournament.”
To advance to Los Angeles for the Sweet 16, UNC must win two games at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center — in the first round Thursday against a No. 16-seed, the winner of the First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, at 6:40 Tuesday (truTV) between Wagner (16–15; NET ranking of 290) and Howard (18–16; 273), and in the second round Saturday against either No. 8-seed Mississippi State (21–13; 31) or No. 9-seed Michigan State (19–13; 24).
UNC is 12–1 in NCAA tournament games in Charlotte.
Wagner won the Northeast Conference tournament on Tuesday with a 54–47 win over Merrimack after finishing sixth in the regular season at 7–9. Howard won the MEAC tournament with a 70–67 win Saturday over Delaware State after finishing tied for second at 9–5. The Bison lost 88–85 at Georgia Tech on Nov. 9.
Carolina is 5–0 against Howard and never has played Wagner.
The Men’s Final Four will be in Glendale, Ariz., at the same stadium — now known as State Farm Stadium — where Carolina won its last national championship in 2017 by beating Gonzaga 71–65. Justin Jackson was ACC Player of the Year that season, the last time a UNC player had earned that honor before RJ Davis this season.
In the other half of the Charlotte pod, No. 2-seed Tennessee (24–8) faces No. 15 Saint Peter’s (19–13), and No. 7-seed Texas (20–12) faces a No 10 seed, the winner of the First Four game at 9:10 Tuesday (truTV) between Virginia (23–10) and Colorado State (24–10).
The Cavaliers are one of five ACC teams in the field. No. 11-ranked Duke (24–8) is the No. 4 seed in the East, playing Vermont (28–6) on Friday in Brooklyn, Clemson (21–11) is the No. 6 seed in the West, facing New Mexico (26–9) Friday in Memphis, and N.C. State (22–14) is the No. 11 seed in the South, playing Kerwin Walton’s Texas Tech team (23–10) on Thursday in Pittsburgh.
The selection committee said that Pittsburgh (22–11) was one of the top four teams left out of the field.
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The Tar Heels’ last four national championships — 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017 — all came after they won the ACC regular-season title but failed to win the ACC tournament.
UNC was projected as a No. 2 seed for weeks before winning nine consecutive games and adding the ACC title to its regular-season crown. As expected, the other three No. 1 seeds are No. 2-ranked and top overall seed UConn at the East Regional in Boston, No. 1-ranked and second overall seed Houston (30–4) at the South Regional in Dallas and No. 3-ranked and the third overall seed Purdue (29–4) at the Midwest Regional in Detroit.
The national semifinals match the winners from the East and West in one semifinal, with the South and Midwest in the other semifinal.
This is the eighth time UNC will play in the West Region, previously in 1978, 1981 (2 seed), 1986 (3 seed), 1988 (2 seed), 1999 (3 seed), 2015 (4 seed) and 2018 (2 seed).
South Regional
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday’s game
No. 16 Prairie View A&M 76, No. 16 Lehigh 55
FIRST ROUND
Thursday’s games
Oklahoma City
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese State 68
Greenville, S.C.
No. 11 VCU 86, No. 6 North Carolina 78, OT
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
Oklahoma City
No. 10 Texas A&M 73, No. 7 St. Mary’s 50
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
Friday’s games
Tampa, Fla.
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
No. 1 Florida 114, Prairie View A&M 55
SECOND ROUND
Saturday games
Oklahoma City
Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72
Greenville, S.C.
Illinois 76, VCU 55
Oklahoma City
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
Sunday game
Tampa, Fla.
Iowa 73, Florida 72
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Houston
Thursday, March 26
Iowa (23–12) vs. Nebraska (28–6)
Illinois (26–8) vs. Houston (30–6)
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Houston
Saturday, March 28
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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