Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
For the second consecutive season, a team from the west will head to the Chapel Hill Super Regional. No. 2 regional seed Southern Cal won the College Station Regional on Monday night with a 7–1 victory over No. 1 regional seed and No. 11-ranked Texas A&M to earn a trip to Chapel Hill to face No. 5 overall seed North Carolina. It will be the first Super Regional since 2002 for the Trojans, who were ranked as No. 12 this season, but finished the season unranked.
Italian basketball fans found out what Carolina fans already knew — Alyssa Ustby is a talented and versatile player, and proved it by piling up the postseason awards. In her first professional season, the 6–1 Ustby earned Eurobasket.com Player of the Year honors in Serie A playing for Panthers Roseto after averaging a double-double over 24 games last season.
CHAPEL HILL — With its third consecutive Super Regionals berth secured after going 3-0 at the Chapel Hill Regional, No. 4 North Carolina can sit back and watch two teams battle late Monday night for the right to play the Tar Heels. That is a welcome change for a program that had to fight through a deciding Monday game in each of the previous two seasons, beating LSU 4-3 in 10 innings in 2024 and knocking off Oklahoma 14-4 in 2025 to advance.
CHAPEL HILL — If you let No. 4 North Carolina pile up runs early, the Tar Heels’ bullpen isn’t going to let you back into the game. East Carolina discovered that on successive nights, and that has UNC heading to the Chapel Hill Super Regional for a third consecutive season.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina and East Carolina will meet for the fifth time this season, and the Pirates hope for a sixth matchup. The Pirates, the No. 3 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, earned the latest battle of in-state rivals by rolling to a 10–0 victory over No. 4 seed VCU in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.
CHAPEL HILL — It took Colin Hynek’s red-hot bat, along with some between-pitches words from Coach Scott Forbes, to ignite Carolina’s offense. Hynek’s game-tying three-run homer in the fourth inning was the catalyst as the No. 4 Tar Heels erased an early three-run deficit to knock off East Carolina 7–5 in a winners bracket game Saturday of the Chapel Hill Regional.
Coach Michael Malone has secured his prime remaining European center target. Greek 6–11, 212-pound big man Alexandros Samodurov (pronounced “sa-muh-DJOOR-ahv”), who has EuroLeague experience, has committed to continue his career at Carolina after withdrawing from the NBA draft process, according to multiple reports.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina and Tennessee are taking a similar approach to the first day of the Chapel Hill Regional, and it has everything to do with what could be waiting on Saturday.
North Carolina’s first season under Coach Michael Malone will feature a familiar anchor and a fresh twist, with no game against Clemson.
CHAPEL HILL — While the pressure of NCAA tournament play is too much for some players, Gavin Gallaher has repeatedly met the moment with clutch hits. Just call him Mr. Chapel Hill Regional.
Matt Able will withdraw from the NBA draft process and continue his college career at North Carolina.
CHAPEL HILL — Last season, North Carolina could usually count on ace Jake Knapp to go deep into each start, which kept the bullpen fresh for the rest of the weekend. That’s even more important in the postseason when falling into the losers’ bracket could mean the pitching staff has to cover many innings, often with little recovery time between games. The margin for error shrinks in a four-team regional, and the pressure on a bullpen can compound quickly if a starter cannot provide length in the opener.
For the first time in 17 years, North Carolina has earned a top-eight national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament for three consecutive seasons.
CHARLOTTE — Few teams have been able to hold back Georgia Tech’s potent offense this season. No. 2 North Carolina is one of them, holding the Yellow Jackets to 11 runs in winning two of three during a mid-April series. But the Jackets, who came into the ACC tournament championship game averaging 10.7 runs per game, bettered that series output on Sunday.
North Carolina’s latest step toward another national title looked like it would be a semifinal between heavyweights. On the field Friday, it looked like a team that knew exactly what it wanted to be and how to impose it.
The reigning NCAA champion Tar Heels dominated Maryland 16–6 at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill., closing the game on a 13–3 run and holding the Terrapins to one goal over the final 27 minutes.
