It was a lot easier to watch than most regional finals.
Maybe we should have expected a relaxing evening when oddsmakers installed the Tar Heels 8.5-point favorites and almost all the talking heads were picking them to win.
But not until the score was 24-7 did we realize they were right and this would be a rare regional final that we didn’t have to bite our nails until the buzzer. By then, we could put away TUMS and Pepto and watch the domination of Saint Peter’s with glee.
I was trying to think about other regionals UNC had played in on the way to 20 Final Fours. And I came up with only three that were as easy and enjoyable as this one.
In 1981, Carolina waxed Kansas State two nights after the Heels beat Utah and All-American Danny Vranes on the Utes’ home court. In 1997, the Heels blew out Louisville in Syracuse. In 2009, they handled Oklahoma and Blake Griffin well enough to advance and won the whole thing behind Tyler Hansbrough.
Thanks to Hubert Davis’ excellent game plan and team’s execution, UNC’s record 130th NCAA tournament victory and ticket to its record 21st Final Four, it was easier to watch against Cinderella Saint Peter’s than, say:
The 1968 and ’69 Elite Eight wins over Davidson, the second on Charlie Scott’s buzzer beater in College Park, which was also the site of the 1977 East final against Kentucky when John Kuester replaced the injured Phil Ford and ran Four Corners in the second half.
The 1993 East title game vs. Cincinnati in overtime, or the 1995 South final against Kentucky. On the way to his first NCAA championship, Roy Williams’ 2005 team barely escaped Villanova and Wisconsin in the East and in 2008 Hansbrough’s baskets held off Louisville in Charlotte.
The most stomach-churning Final Four qualifier had to be 2017 in Memphis, when Luke Maye came off the bench to hit the winning jump shot to beat Kentucky.
That the Heels whipped an underdog foe so convincingly fired the first cannon shot for the historic Final Four semi with Duke, which is also playing well and opens as a slight favorite over Carolina. But, as the weekend ended, the Dukies may think this will be a tougher game than they first thought.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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