By R.L. Bynum
No. 19 North Carolina is headed to Greenville, S.C., for the first two rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament as a No. 6 seed.
The Tar Heels (24–8) are in the South Regional, which has Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Houston. UNC faces VCU (27–7) on Thursday in the first round. A win would advance the Tar Heels to a second-round game Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s game in Greenville between No. 3 Illinois (24–8) and No. 14 Penn (18–11).
It’s the 55th UNC appearance in the NCAA tournament, the second-most of all-time.
VCU, which has won 16 of its last 17 games, finished second in the Atlantic 10 (15–3), and won the league tournament Sunday with a 70–63 victory over Dayton. UNC and VCU have never met.
The Rams (who have a NET ranking of 43 and a WAB ranking of 40) have two players averaging double-figure points: 6–3, 180-pound sophomore guard Terrence Hill Jr. (14.4) and 6–11, 235-pound junior foward Lazar Djokovic (13.5), the latter leading them in rebounding at 5.4 per game.
VCU is 2–5 in Quad 1 games, with wins over South Florida (78–66 on Nov. 26) on a neutral court and 68–62 at Dayton on March 6. The Rams have Quad 1 losses against Vanderbilt (89–74 on Nov. 27) on a neutral court, at St. Louis (88–75 on Feb. 20), at N.C. State (85–79 on Nov. 17), vs. Utah State (80–77 on Nov. 7) on a neutral court, and at home against St. Louis (71–62 on Jan. 7.
The Rams are 5–2 in Quad 2 games, including a neutral-site win 86–68 against Virginia Tech on Nov. 28.
If UNC faces Illinois in the second round, it will be trying to snap a two-game losing streak since the Tar Heels beat the Illini 75–70 in the 2005 national championship game. The all-time series is tied at 4.
The No. 1 seed in the region is No. 4-ranked Florida (26–7), and the No. 2 seed is No. 5-ranked Houston (28–6).
Clemson (24–10) is the No. 8 seed in the South, facing No. 9 Iowa (21–12) on Friday in Tampa.
Duke (32–2) is the No. 1 overall seed and will play in the East Regional in Washington, with early-round games in Greenville, S.C. The Blue Devils face Siena (23–11) in the first round on Thursday. No. 6 UConn (29–5) is the No. 2 seed in that region. No. 24 Louisville (23–10) is a No. 6 seed in the East, and plays South Florida (25–8) in Buffalo on Thursday.
N.C. State (20–13) will play in the First Four against Texas (18–14), and is in the West Regional, to be played in San Jose, Calif. A win would put the Wolfpack up against No. 6-seed BYU (23–11) in the first round in Portland. Miami (25–8) is a No. 7 seed in that region, facing Missouri (20–12) on Friday in St. Louis.
SMU (20–13) will face No. 20 Miami of Ohio (31–1) in the First Four. The Mustangs are in the Midwest Regional, and would face No. 6 seed Tennessee in Philadelphia on Friday a victory. No. 10 Virginia (29–5) is the No. 3 seed in that regional, facing No. 14 Wright State (23–11) on Friday in Philadelphia.
Carolina has played 13 games against teams in the NCAA field. The Tar Heels went 7–6, splitting a pair of games against Clemson and Duke; beating Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State and Virginia; and losing to Miami, Michigan State, N.C. State and SMU.
UNC, 3–3 as a No. 6 seed, has lost to the No. 3 seed in the second round all three previous times as a 6 seed: 85–83 to Iowa in San Antonio in 2014, 78–75 in Denver against Texas in 2004 (Roy Williams’ first season) and 92–73 in Richmond to Texas Tech in 1996.
Carolina is 2–0 in NCAA tournament games in Greenville, S.C., after winning two games on its way to the 2017 NCAA title.
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UNC as a No. 6 seed
2014 — 1–1; 79–77 win in San Antonio over No. 11 Providence, 85–83 loss to No. 3 Iowa State
2004 — 1–1; 63–52 win in Denver over No. 11 Air Force, 78–75 loss to No. 3 Texas
1996 — 1–1; 83–62 win in Richmond over No. 11 New Orleans; 92–73 loss to No. 3 seed Texas Tech
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ 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. 14 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. 8 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. 13 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. 22 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 | TBA | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | TBA |
| 21 | Saturday | TBA | (with Thursday win) Second round: vs. Illinois or Penn | TBA |
| 26 | Thursday | Sweet 16 | Houston | |
| 28 | Saturday | Elite Eight | Houston | |
| April | ||||
| 4, 6 | Sat., Mon. | Final Four | Indianapolis | TBS |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
