Two Memphis sideshows could help Carolina win the region.

The Tar Heels, top seeded in the South, are not favored in most re-seeding of the Sweet Sixteen brackets. USA Today, for example, rates Carolina No. 8 among the remaining teams. While that may be high, the Kentucky-UCLA headliner could help Carolina get out of the South alive, if Butler can be beaten first.

By earning the top seed, UNC will avoid having to play both No. 2 Kentucky AND No. 3 UCLA, which meet in the second game Friday night. Bluegrass Nation is buzzing about John Calipari’s contract extension that will pay him $8 million a year and rank second only to Mike Krzyzewski’s 8-10 mill. Wildcat fans will expect Coach Cal to prove his team worthy of that money by beating UCLA and the Butler-UNC winner. For that price, losing is not an option.

Meanwhile, the Bruins come in with their one-and-done Lonzo Ball the center of an ongoing controversy caused by his outspoken father, LeVar, who has issued some doozies over the last few weeks. First, papa Ball is asking for a $1 billion shoe deal for his three sons, two of whom are still in high school. Somewhere around there he also boasted that he would “kill” Michael Jordan in one-on-one in his prime playing days, even though Ball’s sport was football!

Now, he has rankled none other than The King, LeBron James, by saying James’ kids won’t turn out to be star players because their father’s legacy will create too much pressure. James fired back to keep HIS children out of Ball’s mouth. UCLA coach Steve Alford first said that the big Ball’s antics weren’t a distraction to Lonzo and his teammates, but lately Alford has changed his mind.

So that’s the backdrop of the Kentucky-UCLA game, which has the second highest paid coach in college basketball going against what was once America’s team but now has TV analysts like Charles Barkley openly rooting for the Bruins to lose. It is a side show that has relegated Roy Williams’ political opinions about HB2 and the state of this country to the back pages. The Tar Heels versus Butler is merely the opening act Friday night at FedEx Forum.

That can be very good for Carolina, if it can get by a Butler program that has beaten UNC the last two times they have played. With no distractions of their own, the Tar Heels could more easily stay focused while trying to reach a second straight Final Four.

Related Stories
None