North Carolina’s 54th NCAA tournament appearance will start in First Four
North Carolina’s non-conference strength of schedule ultimately was enough to get the Tar Heels into the NCAA tournament field. UNC will meet San Diego State on Tuesday for the right to meet No. 6-seed Ole Miss on Friday. If UNC wins that game, it would play on Sunday against the winner between No. 3-seed Iowa State and No. 14-seed Lipscomb. (
Tar Heel Tribune)
Tar Heels Headed to NCAA Tournament, Open up in Dayton
In the end, the selection committee looked beyond UNC’s Quad 1 record and have included the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament, as was announced Sunday evening on CBS. UNC is 22-13 but owns a 1-12 record in Quad 1 games. The committee looked at how UNC closed the season and the overall strength of its schedule in giving the Heels an edge. (
Tar Heel Illustrated)
UNC Lands Among NCAA Tournament Field
"I think we've proved that we belong in the NCAA Tournament," North Carolina guard
Seth Trimble said. That belief was confirmed Sunday, when UNC became one of the last teams to make the 68-team field. Now, Carolina will meet San Diego State in a First Four NCAA Tournament matchup of No. 11 seeds. The winner faces Ole Miss on Friday in Milwaukee. (
Inside Carolina)
Whether UNC's Season is ‘Disappointment’ or ‘Disaster’ Hinges on NCAA Tournament Bid
UNC's NCAA Tournament fate is firmly in the hands of the committee on Selection Sunday. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Tar Heels missing March Madness. 247Sports' latest update has UNC as its Last Team In. The season will go down as a "disaster" for UNC if the Tar Heels don't make the field, according to Inside Carolina's Rob Harrington. (
Inside Carolina)
Projections suggest UNC won’t make NCAA Tournament; would Tar Heels accept NIT bid?
The projections for North Carolina have only become less favorable since Friday’s ACC tournament semifinal loss to No. 1 Duke. If the NCAA men’s tournament selection committee agrees, winning eight of their last 10 games — with the only losses against the Blue Devils (31-3; 1st in NET) — won’t be enough for the Tar Heels (22-13) to make the field. (
Tar Heel Tribune)
UNC NCAA Tournament Résumé: Where Tar Heels Stand in Net Ranking, Quad 1 Wins on Selection Sunday
North Carolina (22-13) missed out on a crucial Quad 1 opportunity with an 74-71 loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinal on Friday night in Charlotte. UNC has a 19.4% chance to make the 64-team field (down from 56.4% entering the ACCT) on Selection Sunday, per Bart Torvik. The Tar Heels are the Second Team Out in Joe Lunardi's projections. (
Inside Carolina)
Two Tar Heel runners claim national titles
Two UNC runners won national championships at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday as Makayla Paige won the women’s 800 meters and Ethan Strand won the men’s 3,000. Paige is the first NCAA Champion for the women’s track and field team since 2018. Strand is the first men’s indoor NCAA Champion for UNC since 2003. (
UNC.edu)
March Madness arrives with a waiting game for the Tar Heels and Longhorns on Selection Sunday
Most of the drama will revolve around the Tar Heels and Longhorns, who are on the bubble and saw their chances of making the field shrink thanks to Colorado State’s run through the Mountain West Conference tournament. UNC and Texas each won two games in their conference tournaments, and for about a day, they looked securely in. Now, they wait. (
Associated Press)
Selection Sunday: The Cases for and Against UNC Getting In
Sometime on Sunday evening UNC will know its fate. Will it be in the NCAA Tournament, or will this proud program miss out for the second time in three seasons? Sitting on the bubble was once a foreign experience for UNC fans; now it’s become commonplace. UNC fans know the NET and Quad formulas as well as any base, which isn’t anything to boast about. (
Tar Heel Illustrated)
Hubert Davis Stands With Jae’Lyn Withers in Aftermath of ACC Tournament Loss
At the end of a wild Friday for UNC in the ACC Tournament, about an hour after the Tar Heels' piercing loss to Duke had gone final,
Jae'Lyn Withers emerged from the team's locker room and draped his left arm around the shoulder of
Hubert Davis. They stood there, the 6-foot-9 forward and the coach, arm in arm together in a back hallway at the Spectrum Center. (
Inside Carolina)
Art’s Angle: Out Of Their Hands
UNC’s work is done and its fate now depends on certain weekend games and ultimately is in the hands of the NCAA tournament selection committee, which happens to be chaired by UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips also will be lobbying to avoid the embarrassment of having only three teams in the 2025 field. (
Chapelboro.com)
If Anything, at least the Heels Made Things Interesting
Some fans literally gave up and stopped watching. This scribe knows a few. Many called for
Hubert Davis’ head demanding a change. Some wanted Carolina to lose so Davis would be fired because they’d lost hope he was the man for this gigantic job. This isn’t to defend Davis or promote him for a fifth season or otherwise. It’s noting the vibe of the base. (
Tar Heel Illustrated)
UNC’s Jae'Lyn Withers praised for facing media postgame after lane violation
Sports at both the professional and collegiate levels often see players declining to talk to media after an impactful mistake. But that’s not what happened with North Carolina forward
Jae'Lyn Withers Friday night against Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. That came after Withers entered the key too early on a late
Ven-Allen Lubin free throw. (
Awful Announcing)
Student jobs at the Dean E. Smith Center
Thousands of UNC students poured into the Dean E. Smith Center for the basketball game against Pittsburgh last month. They showed up and did their job: loudly cheering on the Tar Heels to a dramatic 67-66 victory. But some of their peers actually reported for work. The first person you encounter when entering is the person scanning your ticket. (
UNC.edu)
UNC Staying Hopeful After Duke Loss Brings Uncertainty To NCAAT Chances
North Carolina's 74-71 loss to Duke at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte on Friday leaves its spot in the NCAA Tournament in limbo. The Tar Heels are now 22-13 with just one Quad 1 victory in 13 attempts. But with their spot in the Big Dance still up in the air, and potentially fleeting, the Tar Heels sounded messages of optimism late Friday night. (
Inside Carolina)