CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Despite a harrowing loss to N.C. State in the ACC Championship game on Saturday, the Tar Heels have their eyes on an even bigger prize—the Big Dance.
North Carolina earned the fourth and final No.1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and will open play against the winner of Wagner vs. Howard at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“I’m just really excited for the guys,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said in a statement Sunday night.
“We’re a number one seed because of the work this team has done this season. I’m proud of how they have worked all season, how they’ve played, how they have prepared and how from the start of the season they have wanted to be a team. To be given an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament is a big deal. I know the importance of being able to play close to home, so playing in Charlotte for potentially the first two rounds and being closer to our fans is a big deal for us, but it’s just fun coming into the tournament.”
They are scheduled for the second round of the tournament just 48 hours later before heading across the country if they win that game.
The Tar Heels were riding high atop the ACC finishing the regular season 27-7 overall and 17-3 in the conference before coming up short against the Wolfpack on Saturday.
N.C. State simply wanted it more – earning their first chip since the 1987 season. And if they didn’t get better over the Tar Heels, their postseason run would have been over. They were competing for something bigger than themselves and now, with an automatic bid into the tournament, the 11-seed Pack will face the sixth-seed Texas Tech in the first round.
After not making the tournament last season, the Tar Heels have made a complete turnaround, led primarily by a veteran-heavy roster. Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is their defensive success- ranking among the top 10 according to KenPom’s efficiency metrics.
The last time UNC participated in the tournament was in 2022 when they went on a run to the championship game – suffering a loss to Kansas.
So in response to last year’s wreckage and to not adding to their resume their first conference title since 2016, the revamped Tar Heels won’t harp on their losses, but instead move on in hopes of finishing the job this time around.