RALEIGH, NC (WNCN) — Despite how controversial of a decision it’s turned out to be, the North Carolina Tar Heels are heading to Dayton.
UNC will play San Diego State in Dayton, Ohio Tuesday evening in the NCAA Tournament First Four. The winner of that game will go on as the No. 11 seed to Milwaukee to play No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Round of 64.
Why is UNC a controversial team in NCAA Tournament?
With six national championship titles, the Tar Heels are one of the more storied programs in the history of the NCAA Tournament. But the 2024-25 campaign was not vintage Tar Heel Basketball.
At 22-13, North Carolina finished fifth in the ACC standings following the regular season, in what was deemed a “down year” for the Atlantic Coast Conference by many national pundits. In games played against the most valuable opponents — what the NCAA calls Quadrant 1 games — North Carolina went 1-12. While schools like West Virginia, who were left out of the field of 68, picked up six Quadrant 1 wins this season. Leaving many to wonder: How did UNC get in?
“The eye test must have been part of it,” Andrew Jones of Tar Heel Illustrated explained on CBS 17’s Sunday Night Overtime. “They have looked like an NCAA Tournament team the last month. They have looked like a club that could stick around. Before that, before losing at Clemson, they never really looked like an NCAA Tournament team.”
Adding to the controversy is committee chairperson Bubba Cunningham, the director of athletics for the University of North Carolina. The NCAA committee has certain protocols in place to protect the field from bias, such as if a committee member is associated with a university being discussed they have to recuse themselves from the conversation and leave the room, but still has many folks wondering if his presence on the committee impacted North Carolina’s fate.
“I actually thought going in, that him being the head of the committee was going to make it harder to make the NCAA tournament,” Jones shared. “Because of the appearance of impropriety that people are going to suggest.”
Can UNC make a run?
The only way for North Carolina to prove they truly did deserve to make the field of 68 is by making a run in the NCAA Tournament. That starts on Tuesday night in Dayton against San Diego State.
While the Tar Heels have been hot the last few weeks of the season, winning 8 of their last 10 games, the Aztecs have sputtered dropping 3 of their last 6.
The Heels’ success will largely be determined by their perimeter shooting. In their last eight wins, UNC has shot 36.4% or better from the perimeter, six times shooting 40% or better from three-point range. The only time North Carolina shot less than 36.4% since their loss to Clemson came in the two losses to the Duke Blue Devils.
“They’re playing a San Diego State team that’s one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Jones explained. “They’re physical, they don’t let you screen, they don’t let you cut, they will double on shooters on the perimeter so RJ (Davis) is going to get a ton of attention by guys that know what they’re doing.”
San Diego State played for a National Title in 2023 falling short to UCONN in that game, while the Tar Heels last National Title game appearance was in 2022 in a lost to Kansas, which makes Tuesday’s meeting in Dayton one between two of the last three National Runner-Ups.