Fresh off their ACC Championship win against Virginia on Saturday, the UNC men’s basketball team found out what its NCAA Tournament path will be on Selection Sunday.
The Tar Heels were given a number one seed in the East region after capturing conference crowns in both the regular season and tournament.
UNC will enter rival territory for its first and second round games, making the short trip across the Triangle to Raleigh’s PNC Arena–the home of NC State.
***********VIEW ENTIRE BRACKET HERE************
“There’s no special feeling about being a number one seed because when you get there you’ve got to play,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said. “I used to worry more, and say ‘Oh gosh, that’s such a tough bracket,’ but I don’t do that anymore because you’ve got to play on game day.”
The Tar Heels are ready to begin their quest for another NCAA Championship. (Todd Melet)
The Tar Heels’ first challenge will be the winner of a play-in game between a pair of No. 16 seeds–the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference, and the Farleigh Dickinson Knights, the champions of the Northeast Conference.
The play-in game is scheduled for Tuesday night. UNC will see its first action at 7:20 on Thursday night.
A 16-seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The all-time record for top seeds in those games is 124-0.
“Everyone’s emotions have run through such a wide variety [this year],” Williams said. “We were picked number one in the preseason, had everyone talking bad about us during the season how we were underachieving–and now everybody’s saying great things.
“I think we are a veteran club and don’t listen to that.”
If the Tar Heels manage to find a way past the first round, they’ll take on the winner of the No. 8 seed USC Trojans and the No. 9 seed Providence Friars on Saturday.
The Trojans (21-12, sixth in the PAC-12) are a balanced squad led by former Florida Gulf Coast head coach Andy Enfield–boasting six players who score in double figures.
Providence began the year 14-1 before finishing 23-10-good enough for fourth in the Big East. The Friars possess a dynamic duo consisting of one of this year’s top NBA prospects–junior guard Kris Dunn (16.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6.4 APG)–and sophomore forward Ben Bentil (21.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG)
Should UNC advance further, its most likely Sweet Sixteen opponent would be either the No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats or the No. 5 seed Indiana Hoosiers.
As is typical, the Wildcats are a young team playing for head coach John Calipari. They possess one of the most dynamic backcourts in college basketball with its point guard–SEC Player of the Year Tyler Ulis (16.8 PPG, 7.2 APG)–and freshman shooting guard Jamal Murray (20.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG).
Despite coming into the year ranked in the Top 5, Kentucky ran into some growing pains early in the season–but recovered to finish 26-8 and as champions of the SEC Tournament.
With Marcus Paige starting to recover his form, UNC is a trendy pick to win it all. (Todd Melet)
The Hoosiers–a college basketball blue-blood–received none of the preseason accolades that UNC or Kentucky did, but were able to put together a 25-7 record and win the Big Ten’s regular season crown.
On the opposite side of the Tar Heels’ bracket, the Xavier Musketeers are the No. 2 seed and the West Virginia Mountaineers are the No. 3 seed.
UNC would not be able to meet up with these teams until the Elite Eight.
Xavier has been ranked in the top 10 for the majority of the season, and finished the year second in the Big East behind Villanova at 27-5.
West Virginia (28-6), with its Hall-of-Fame head coach Bob Huggins, closed the year by winning six straight games before falling in the Big 12 Championship Game to Kansas. The Mountaineers–nicknamed “Press Virginia” for their relentless defense–are ranked sixth in the nation in defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.com.
Notre Dame, a familiar conference foe, is also in UNC’s bracket–as the No. 6 seed.
An ACC Championship rematch could await the Tar Heels in Houston at the Final Four, as Virginia is the 1-seed in the Midwest region.
“As coaches, we want to put the ACC Tournament behind us with a couple of exceptions,” Williams said. “We have great confidence about we played defensively and now let’s build on that. And the players, like Joel Berry, how well he played should give him more confidence to take into the (NCAA) Tournament.”
Of course, the beauty of March is that most of this preview will be rendered useless by the many upsets that occur, especially during the tournament’s opening weekend.
With that said though, Kansas (South region) and Oregon (West region) are the other two top seeds.
It’s the 15th time UNC has been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and first time since 2012–a year that ended with a loss in the Elite Eight to Kansas.
The last time the Tar Heels were the top seed in the East region was in 2008, when they also lost to Kansas–but in the Final Four.
Analyst and NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley said during the CBS Selection Sunday broadcast, “When they’re playing at their best, North Carolina is the team to beat.”
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