Carolina is once again the No. 1 team in the country entering the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels earned the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed Sunday night for the fourth consecutive year.

The Tar Heels will face either Drexel or Saint Joseph’s in the tournament’s first round Friday, November 14 at Karen Shelton Stadium. The Dragons and Hawks will face off in a play-in game in Chapel Hill Wednesday. Shelton Stadium will also host a second-round game on Sunday, regardless of which teams advance. The winner of that game will advance to the NCAA semifinals the following week in Durham. Notably, Carolina could potentially face Duke in the second round. The Blue Devils will face Iowa in the first round Friday.

Virginia earned the NCAA Tournament’s No. 4 overall seed, setting up a potential matchup with the Tar Heels in the semifinals. Syracuse and Wake Forest also earned bids as unseeded teams. No. 2 Princeton and No. 3 Harvard are the field’s other national seeds. For a full look at the bracket, click here.

UNC enters the NCAA Tournament with a 19-1 overall record. Carolina split the ACC regular-season title with both Virginia and Wake Forest, then defeated the Cavaliers to win its ninth consecutive conference tournament title in Louisville last week. The Tar Heels’ only loss came to the Demon Deacons in double overtime.

Carolina is seeking its 12th national championship, sixth in the last eight seasons and second under head coach Erin Matson. When combining her playing and coaching careers, Matson is seeking her sixth championship ring. The Tar Heels fell short of the title last season as the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, losing to Saint Joseph’s in the national semifinals. Carolina entered that game unbeaten on the year.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications

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