UNC’s 54th NCAA tournament appearance will start in First Four

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina’s non-conference strength of schedule ultimately was enough to get the Tar Heels into the NCAA tournament field. In the program’s 54th appearance they’ll play in the First Four as the last team in the field.

UNC (22–13) will meet San Diego State on Tuesday at 9 p.m. in a battle of No. 11 seeds for the right to advance to Milwaukee’s Fiserve Forum on Friday in the South Region to meet No. 6-seed Ole Miss (22–11). If UNC wins that round of 64 game, it would play on Sunday against the winner of the game between No. 3-seed Iowa State (24–9) and No. 14-seed Lipscomb (25–9).

If Carolina makes it to the second weekend, those games would be in Atlanta at the State Farm Arena.

The decision by the NCAA tournament selection committee, which UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham chairs, came after only 24.3% of the Sunday projections on Bracket Matrix (27 of 111) had the Tar Heels in the field, with most putting the Tar Heels among the first four teams out.

Three other ACC teams made the field: No. 1-ranked Duke (31–3; No. 1 seed in East Regional), No. 13-ranked Louisville (27–7; No. 8 seed in the South Region) and No. 10 Clemson (27–6; No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region).

The Tar Heels’ late surge with eight wins in the last 10 games was enough to get on the right side of the bubble despite their 1–12 record in Quad 1 games.


DateMonth/dayScoresOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
15TuesdayW, 84–76at No. 16 MemphisExhibition
27SundayW, 127–63vs. Johnson C. SmithExhibition
November
4MondayW, 90–76vs. Elon1–0
8FridayL, 92–89at Kansas1–1
15FridayW, 107–55vs. American2–1
22FridayW, 85–69at Hawai’i3–1
Maui Invitational
25MondayW, 92–90Dayton4–1
26TuesdayL, 85–72No. 3 Auburn4–2
27WednesdayL, 94–91, OTNo. 7 Michigan State4–3
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
4WednesdayL, 94–79vs. No. 5 Alabama4–4
—————————
7SaturdayW, 68–65vs. Georgia Tech5–4,
1–0 ACC
14SaturdayW, 93–67vs. LaSalle6–4
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
17TuesdayL, 90–84No. 4 Florida6–5
CBS Sports Classic
at Madison Square Garden
21SaturdayW, 76–74UCLA7–5
—————————
29SundayW, 97–81vs. Campbell8–5
January
1WednesdayL, 83–70at No. 13 Louisville8–6, 1–1
4SaturdayW, 74–73at Notre Dame9–6, 2–1
7TuesdayW, 82–67vs. SMU10–6, 3–1
11SaturdayW, 63–61at N.C. State11–6, 4–1
15WednesdayW, 79–53vs. California12–6, 5–1
18SaturdayL, 72–71vs. Stanford12–7, 5–2
21TuesdayL, 67–66at Wake Forest12–8, 5–3
25SaturdayW, 102–96, OTvs. Boston College13–8, 6–3
28TuesdayL, 73–65at Pittsburgh13–9, 6–4
February
1SaturdayL, 87–70at No. 1 Duke13–10, 6–5
8SaturdayW, 67–66vs. Pittsburgh14–10, 7–5
10MondayL, 85–65at No. 10 Clemson14–11, 7–6
15SaturdayW, 88–82at Syracuse15–11, 8–6
19WednesdayW, 97–73vs. N.C. State16–11, 9–6
22SaturdayW, 81–66vs. Virginia17–11, 10–6
24MondayW, 96–85at Florida State18–11, 11–6
March
1SaturdayW, 92–73vs. Miami19–11, 12–6
4TuesdayW, 91–59at Virginia Tech20–11, 13–6
8SaturdayL, 82–69vs. No. 1 Duke20–12, 13–7
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center, Charlotte
12WednesdayW, 76–562nd-round:
vs. Notre Dame
21–12
13ThursdayW, 68–59Quarterfinal:
vs. Wake Forest
22–12
14FridayL, 72–71Semifinal:
vs. No. 1 Duke
22–13
NCAA tournament
18 or 19Tuesday
or Wednesday
9 p.m.vs. San Diego State
First Four in Dayton, Ohio
truTV

Photo by Smith Hardy

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